Saturday, March 22, 2014

The New Daily 5: A Book Study

Have you heard about the new edition of The Daily 5 book?  Well I'm reading it for a book study that is being hosted by Jen @ That First Grade Blog right now.  I can't wait to share the chapter highlights with you.


About Me

First, I'd like to introduce myself to the book study group and share a little background about my school.

I'm an elementary reading specialist for grades 1-5.  My district has been using The Daily 5 framework for several years.  I participated in a book study at school for the original version when I was a first grade teacher.  We implemented Daily 5 later that year.

Our school currently uses The Daily 5 framework at the primary level and our own scaled down version (Daily 3) at the intermediate level.  I'm interested to see how the Boushey and Moser layout The Daily 3 compared to what we currently do.  I'm hoping to use what I learn from this edition to support classroom teachers.


Chapter One Highlights

The chapter opens with this quote from Regie Routman: 
The typical teacher has children doing a lot of "stuff."  How is what I am having children do creating readers and writers?
I think this quote asks an important question about our reading instruction.  It sets the tone for the book and is the basis of The Daily 5.

Boushey and Moser explain how their beliefs about literacy instruction and teaching practices have evolved over time.  They discuss how, in the past, their teaching was basal driven with students completing busy work quietly at their seats.

After years of research and working with experts in the field of reading, they have come to understand that engaging in authentic acts of reading and writing every day is what children need in order to become better readers and writers.

Thus, The Daily 5 was born:  Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, and Word Work.

One shift in the new edition is that students may not do all five of these activities in one day.  But rather, teachers may choose to do The Daily 3. In this model, the two constants would be Read to Self and Work on Writing.  Students would choose their third activity and the order in which they completed all three activities. 

I think what's most worth remembering from Chapter 1 is that The Daily 5 offers a framework for the literacy block where students engage in meaningful reading and writing activities, with most of their time being spent reading.  How beautifully simple, yet effective!

4 comments:

  1. I always look forward to your posts, Wendy, because of their substance. There's always something useful to mull over and incorporate into my classroom. Thanks!

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  2. Meaningful reading and writing... could to reflect and consider if activities are doing this. I didn't know you were a reading specialist. Was this recent? If so, congratulations!

    Gwen

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  3. Wendy, this is such an informative post. So, what chapter do you want to be the guest blogger for? I agree...this framework is "beautiful, yet simple"! Thanks, Wendy!
    -Jen
    That First Grade Blog

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