In the world of reading and writing there is all this buzz of teaching students in either small groups or 1:1 conferencing. Whole group instruction is no longer beneficial for student learning. So now in many classrooms we have strategy groups, guided reading groups, words their way groups, math groups, etc. groups. All this grouping of children is wonderful in a perfect world, with all the time in the world to prep for these small group instructions, but that perfect world doesn’t exist. Or does it, in a room that utilizing Daily 5.
There are two pieces of Daily Five that I feel are the most important. These are student choice and putting the ownership of learning on them. The ownership of learning is put on my children each and every day during Daily 5. My students now know that the only way to get better at reading and writing is to read and write. There is no wasting time anymore, because that would be wasted reading and writing time and we don’t want that. Boy do I feel bad for those few children who have not caught on to this “secret” yet, because I wouldn’t want to be them in my classroom. The other children take their reading and writing time SO seriously.
This past Thursday we had a sub in the classroom. I couldn’t decide whether or not to leave Daily Five plans. I ended up leaving them, telling my students that I left the Daily five plans because I knew how much this time of the day meant to them and I trusted them to convince me they can do Daily Five without me. Well, in speaking with the sub she said that there were only three boys who were not acting appropriately during Daily Five. When asked how she knew they weren’t acting appropriately for Daily Five, she said, “Oh the other kids were not happy and kept telling me that it isn’t fair, they are ruining Daily Five time for us.” Wow! I was so proud of the majority of the students in my classroom. Instead of encouraging these three children to be silly, they wanted no part of it. My only question when I returned to school was, “Who got better at reading and writing yesterday?”
The reason I was absent was for a Words their Way training. Words their Way is the newest program our district has adopted. Words their Way is wonderful concept when implemented correctly. During this training we were given opportunities to express our concerns and ask questions. Many of the questions were regarding management of the class and the groups. Also, assessment and how do you know if the child is getting the sort. With Daily Five, management is not a problem, and I don’t think it ever will be. My children have an hour and a half reading block that I can honestly say they are using effectively. Within this time slot they work on Word Work for 20 minutes. I don’t have any crazy centers, task-boards, or written assignments that have to be completed. If my students don’t understand a sort, they ask me for a conference. It’s as simple as that. Or is it just Daily Five?
Another question was, “How do we fit it all in?” My question is, what is the “it all” we are referring to? Am I doing something wrong that I’m not stressed on fitting everything in? With Daily Five reading, writing, and word work aren’t all separate “its”, but rather one block of literacy time, where my students experience the joy of reading and writing. I am no longer trying to fit “everything” in, I am however teaching my children, and instilling a love for literacy. My CAFÉ strategies are also the same strategies I transfer to Daily Math. Just like in reading, in math we also use our prior knowledge and context clues, along with many other strategies that can be interchangeable.
What I have noticed about every new “program” that has been introduced or adopted, is that it wasn’t much different than the last. A new name, a new face, and maybe one or two new buzz words. I’ll pick up a few tips here and there, but truthfully I think our students are the best “programs”. Aren’t they the ones who we should be listening to?
I say Daily Five and CAFE are my saviors because they are the best classroom management tools I have implemented in my classroom. Both are effective ways to manage my classroom day and information being taught. I know Daily Five is here to stay in my classroom.
