Sunday, June 16, 2013

The Daily 5....I need your help!!

I know that we have all heard of The Daily 5.  It is growing to be so popular among primary grades teachers. I have dabbled in it for several years now. I had not read the book by "The Sisters", but I had read a lot about it on blogs, and heard about it at some of the professional learning sessions provided by my district.   However, I have always been a bit intimidated by it, so I have only tried the parts that I was comfortable with.  I have decided that next year I am going to take the plunge and fully commit to the program.  That means that this summer I am reading the book.  I am also reading The Café Book.

I know that you train the students on Read to Self first....adding a minute or two each day until they reach the desired length of independent reading time. Now, this happens to be the part of Daily 5 that I have dabbled in and feel comfortable with.  I always train my students to read to self which takes a few weeks. Then, reality sets in. It is almost September!!  I have to complete DRAs( the reading assessment used by my district), because they are usually due sometime at the beginning of September.  I also start feeling the pressure to start Guided Reading groups because we are required to report a reading level each month from a running record.  Well, I won't have a running record score if I don't start guided reading.  AHHH...I am feeling stressed just thinking about it!! So we move on...I start guided reading, we get in a routine, and I never teach the other components of The Daily 5. 

So, I need advice from all of you experienced Daily 5 users.  How long does it usually take to train students on ALL components? How do you balance training students on all components with the demands that come with the beginning of the year?  What tips do you have for me????

6 comments:

Christina Bainbridge said...

The thing about Daily Five is that, yes, in the beginning it takes a ton of time and you neglect other things that you think are important. BUT... because you've spent so much time developing expectations and behaviors, you spend very little time re-correcting, doing transitions, and stopping what you're doing to address kids making poor choices.

The first year I did it, I felt so terrible because I didn't meet with groups for the first month of school! But, I did do my DIBELS testing during the "practice rounds" after the 2nd week or so. So, you could do that too.

Once you make the commitment to do D5, jump in and just do it! You'll feel bad in the beginning because you won't be teaching a ton, but the frontloading of behaviors gives you so much time down the road. The time constraints of mini-lessons really focused my teaching and helped my students understand the urgency of what we were doing.

I have loads of D5 posts on my blog- here they are all if you want to take a peek:
http://bainbridgeclass.blogspot.com/search/label/Daily%20Five


Good luck!

:)
Christina
*Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge*

Kate Daniel said...

I wholeheartedly agree with what Christina is saying! It is REALLY hard to not jump ahead, but if you don't and are patient, you are rewarded ten-fold.

My best advice is to follow those first six weeks in the book verbatim. As in, do not deviate, not at all, not even a little. Just do exactly what it says. Even if you think your kids can read more than you're supposed to that day, don't do it. Review the iCharts, do the modeling, do the review and it all comes together. My kids are usually trained in about six weeks, but I review the Icharts all year long, especially after breaks. I seriously make 20 i charts each year because when the kids are making them with you over and over, it really hits home for them. (I post the cute ones on my wall because I love them, but for the nitty gritty I always write them with the kids).

Once your kids are trained, like Christina said, you will have even more time than before and you'll be able to meet with groups more often and more effectively than before.

We do DRAs and I usually start one at a time on those after 2-3 weeks or so, depending on how long it takes my kids to get to 15 minutes.

The other thing is that as you do it, you'll think about tweaks you want to make. I've made small changes each year and it's always been great. But I always, always stick to the training the way it is in the book.

Good luck!!

Kate
Second Grade Sparkle

Lory said...

I ditto Christina and Kate 100%. It was a fabulous adventure to take on last year and I'm so excited to tweak and try it again this year!!!
Good luck!!
Lory

Lory's Page

Anonymous said...

I have the book...I brought it home, now I just need to read it. You have inspired me to go for it!

Terri Izatt
KinderKapers

Britney said...

Thanks for all the great advice guys:) I can't wait to start!!

BAK Pack Photography said...

Britney,
I would love to talk to you about Daily 5. I am taking a graduate course on it and I have learned so much!!!
❀Beth Ann❀
Taming My Flock of Firsties
tamingmyflockoffirsties@gmail.com

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