Book Review: The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser "the sisters"
Background:
This book was written by two sisters; Gail and Joan. The book's main purpose is to instruct students in small groups, while other students are busy working and managing 'themselves'. The purpose is not to just give students 'busy work' but to actually have students develop stamina and become better readers and writers. It is about students monitoring their own behavior, instead of the teacher doing all the monitoring. It gives students responsibility, while the teacher is instructing on student's own instructional level.
Organization:
The book is organized in a reader friendly way. First, it gives the background of where 'The Daily 5' came from and has a page of how these two sisters/teachers evolved in their literacy/small group work and came up with the Daily Five. The book is broken up in two sections; The Daily Five Basics, such as the introduction, from management to its foundations, and routines and concepts. Section two is The Daily Five in Action which actually goes into how the Daily Five looks in a classroom. It focuses on read to self, read to someone and listen to reading, work on writing and word work; and then putting it all together.
Main Point or Summary:
The Daily 5 is made up of five components; Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Listen to Reading. The foundations of the Daily 5 are trust, choice, stamina, sense of urgency and staying out of the way of students work. In order to launch this literacy program, there needs to be an established gathering place where you gather with your students to review their progress, etc…. Each student needs to have book boxes based on the I PICK book models at their own instructional level. The classroom needs to have the Daily 5 anchor charts posted around the room so that before each independent work session students can go back and refer to. Signals need to be established, and correct and incorrect behavior needs to be modeled.
How it Works:
First of, this book can be used K-12, not just elementary. Of course, appropriate work for each grade level needs to be designed by the teacher. Here is a brief description of how some of these strategies worked in my kindergarten classroom last year. We started of with Read to Someone, where we started with anchor charts, how to pick the right books, and modeling the correct and incorrect behaviors. Each time we started something new we only tried it for 3 minutes (this is very important). The moment a student modeling incorrect behavior, stop and gather at the meeting place and review what happened. Then model again and have students try one more time. During this time, teach students how to sit EEKK style (Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee), and what the partners job is. Once students manage this, time it each day to see how long they lasted (building stamina). Your goal is to get students actively involved and engaged in reading, while building stamina.
The second step of Read to Self, where again you again model incorrect/correct behavior (usually students model this, and they love to do this) and then follow the same routine. Start with 3 minutes and build on, there is only reading involved and no talking. If there is talking, you ring the bell or whatever you came up with to signal for students to meet at the gathering/meeting area.
My students were in kindergarten, and they read anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes independently. Of course, everything was taught to them, such as how to pick appropriate books and how to read a book; read the pictures, read the words, retell the story, so that everything could be done independently while I worked in small groups with students at their levels.
After these two, we went into writing; writer's workshop. (same thing, model, send of to do independently, etc…)
Word Work was one of their favorites. This was set up in a literacy station format with a variety of activities to help with practicing correct spelling of words. My students did this for 30 minutes in absolute silence. They were always engaged and working (of course we had to build stamina to get there, but that is one of the main point of these strategies.)
I also added Listening to reading and had a lot of books with CD's for students. (Also, follow the routine of modeling, sending of independently, etc…)
During all these stations, I continued calling groups and working on guided reading, reading strategies, etc…. Small group instruction based on their level really made a difference, since not all students needed the same thing.
Recommendation:
Above, I gave just a brief summary or explanation of how it worked for me. I did not go into detail for each since I think it would be beneficial to get the book and read it. I highly RECOMMEND this book to any teacher. Not only will you have better readers and writers, but students that are more independent workers. I absolutely love this and definitely plan on continuing to use it in my classroom. I saw a huge improvement in my students reading, writing, and independence. I even heard from the first grade teachers how these students were doing much better compared to ones that were not exposed to The Daily 5.
This is the link to the website of these two teachers and all about The Daily 5, and also their second book The Daily Cafe. http://www.the2sisters.com/
I absolutely love this book. This was my bible when I taught fourth grade. Working with small groups and having your other students work independently is easier said then done-takes so much practice and patience! Great book and great review!
My daughter is in fourth grade and loves The Daily 5. I sit on the school improvement team at her elementary school and the teachers all use it in their classrooms. I think I need to get the book!
Monica, get it! You will love it :) I think that this book can definitely be used in any grade level. I can not wait to read The Cafe...have been meaning to pick it up.
This book is a wonderful! The students become very independent and teachers are able to work with guided reading groups or individual conferences. It amazing what students can be trained to do with good modeling and instruction.
started by Elly Salkic on 12 Feb 12
Background:
This book was written by two sisters; Gail and Joan. The book's main purpose is to instruct students in small groups, while other students are busy working and managing 'themselves'. The purpose is not to just give students 'busy work' but to actually have students develop stamina and become better readers and writers. It is about students monitoring their own behavior, instead of the teacher doing all the monitoring. It gives students responsibility, while the teacher is instructing on student's own instructional level.
Organization:
The book is organized in a reader friendly way. First, it gives the background of where 'The Daily 5' came from and has a page of how these two sisters/teachers evolved in their literacy/small group work and came up with the Daily Five. The book is broken up in two sections; The Daily Five Basics, such as the introduction, from management to its foundations, and routines and concepts. Section two is The Daily Five in Action which actually goes into how the Daily Five looks in a classroom. It focuses on read to self, read to someone and listen to reading, work on writing and word work; and then putting it all together.
Main Point or Summary:
The Daily 5 is made up of five components; Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Listen to Reading. The foundations of the Daily 5 are trust, choice, stamina, sense of urgency and staying out of the way of students work. In order to launch this literacy program, there needs to be an established gathering place where you gather with your students to review their progress, etc…. Each student needs to have book boxes based on the I PICK book models at their own instructional level. The classroom needs to have the Daily 5 anchor charts posted around the room so that before each independent work session students can go back and refer to. Signals need to be established, and correct and incorrect behavior needs to be modeled.
How it Works:
First of, this book can be used K-12, not just elementary. Of course, appropriate work for each grade level needs to be designed by the teacher. Here is a brief description of how some of these strategies worked in my kindergarten classroom last year. We started of with Read to Someone, where we started with anchor charts, how to pick the right books, and modeling the correct and incorrect behaviors. Each time we started something new we only tried it for 3 minutes (this is very important). The moment a student modeling incorrect behavior, stop and gather at the meeting place and review what happened. Then model again and have students try one more time. During this time, teach students how to sit EEKK style (Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee), and what the partners job is. Once students manage this, time it each day to see how long they lasted (building stamina). Your goal is to get students actively involved and engaged in reading, while building stamina.
The second step of Read to Self, where again you again model incorrect/correct behavior (usually students model this, and they love to do this) and then follow the same routine. Start with 3 minutes and build on, there is only reading involved and no talking. If there is talking, you ring the bell or whatever you came up with to signal for students to meet at the gathering/meeting area.
My students were in kindergarten, and they read anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes independently. Of course, everything was taught to them, such as how to pick appropriate books and how to read a book; read the pictures, read the words, retell the story, so that everything could be done independently while I worked in small groups with students at their levels.
After these two, we went into writing; writer's workshop. (same thing, model, send of to do independently, etc…)
Word Work was one of their favorites. This was set up in a literacy station format with a variety of activities to help with practicing correct spelling of words. My students did this for 30 minutes in absolute silence. They were always engaged and working (of course we had to build stamina to get there, but that is one of the main point of these strategies.)
I also added Listening to reading and had a lot of books with CD's for students. (Also, follow the routine of modeling, sending of independently, etc…)
During all these stations, I continued calling groups and working on guided reading, reading strategies, etc…. Small group instruction based on their level really made a difference, since not all students needed the same thing.
Recommendation:
Above, I gave just a brief summary or explanation of how it worked for me. I did not go into detail for each since I think it would be beneficial to get the book and read it. I highly RECOMMEND this book to any teacher. Not only will you have better readers and writers, but students that are more independent workers. I absolutely love this and definitely plan on continuing to use it in my classroom. I saw a huge improvement in my students reading, writing, and independence. I even heard from the first grade teachers how these students were doing much better compared to ones that were not exposed to The Daily 5.
Purchase book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Five-Gail-Boushey/dp/1571104291/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329011309&sr=8-1
Further information:
This is the link to the website of these two teachers and all about The Daily 5, and also their second book The Daily Cafe. http://www.the2sisters.com/