Welcome to a new school year! I hope you had a wonderful summer and enjoyed spending quality time with your children. This summer I have been deeply engrossed in discovering what research says most benefits students as they become readers, writers and lifelong learners. As a result, the structure of my literacy block may look and sound a little different and I am EXCITED!

It won’t be long until you hear your child talking about “The Daily Five.” The purpose of this letter is to fill you in on what The Daily Five is all about, so you don’t have to nod your head while wondering what in the world your child is referring to.

The Daily Five is a way of structuring the reading block so every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. These research based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement, as well as help foster children who love to read and write. Students receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and write independently while I provide focused, intense instruction to individuals and small groups of students.

When it is up and running smoothly, students will be engaged in the Daily Five, which are comprised of:

• Read to Self
• Work on Writing
• Read to Someone
• Listen to Reading
• Word Work

There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each Daily 5 component. We will spend our first weeks working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of the Daily 5 and fostering our classroom community. I will also spend time learning about your child’s strengths and greatest needs as a reader in order to best plan for each student’s instruction. Therefore I will be inviting parents into the classroom after we have accomplished this important work. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

One thing you’ll notice that may be a change for you is a direct decrease in the number of worksheets your child brings home. While worksheets keep students busy, they don’t really result in the high level of learning I want for your child. Instead, your child will be taught to select “Good Fit Books” or books they can read, understand and are interested in, which they will read during Daily 5. They will be spending most of their time actually reading, which research supports as the number one way to improve reading. I anticipate the motivation and enjoyment of reading will skyrocket when this gift of choosing their own books is accompanied by extended practice and specific reading instruction for each individual child.

As you can see, I am excited about giving your child the opportunity to be involved in a structure that will have a positive effect on their education.

Please think of our classroom as you visit garage sales or clean your own child’s bookcase. It is my goal to make our classroom library as appealing as your favorite bookstore for browsing.

I hope to see you at the orientation day where we can talk more and I can answer any questions you may have. 

DAILY 5 CHOICE DESCRIPTIONS:

Read to Self

When students Read to Self, students read good-fit books independently from their book boxes. Students take their book box and find a cozy reading spot around the room. Leveled readers from the Treasures reading series are read during this time. All books are carefully monitored by Mrs.Beaudin to ensure they are indeed a good-fit for students.

Why do we do this? The best way to become a better reader is to pratice, practice, practice each day! Read to Self helps us become better readers and it is fun!

Read to Someone

When students choose Read to Someone, partners take their book boxes and read just-right books together. Partners are taught to sit "EEKK" style when partner reading (elbow to elbow, knee to knee). Students make decisions together about where they want to read, what they want to read (same book or different books), and how they want to read (echo or choral). Students are carefully taught to CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING when partner reading. This helps us improve our comprehension. While one student reads, the other student listens carefully and then "checks for understanding". The listener holds up a check-mark and retells what he/she heard by saying: "I heard you say (who & what)." This holds the listener accountable. Students are also carefully taught how to be good reading coaches and to assist partners when they come to an unknown word or when comprehension may break down.

Why do we do this? Reading with a partner is fun and helps us become more fluent readers. It also helps us improve our reading comprehension.

Listen to Reading

When students choose Listen to Reading, they can either listen to stories on the computer or books on CD. Our classroom is very fortunate to have four computers with internet access, three CD players and a variety of books on CD.

Why do we do this? Listening to books on tape is fun and helps us to become more fluent readers. It exposes us to a variety of genre, too!

Word Work

When students choose Word Work, they explore and work with our weekly spelling and vocabulary words. They have a list of Word Work activities to choose from. Examples: Rainbow spell the words, stamp them with alphabet stamps, print them on white boards and chalk boards etc.

Why do we do this? Work work allows us to learn about words, to expand our vocabularies, and to become better spellers! Our writing is important to us and correct spelling allows our readers to have a better understanding and appreciation of our writing.

Work on Writing 

Work on writing is a time for children to practice the skills we are learning during our writing lesson. It could be expository writing, narrative writing, a grammar skill, writing about a story we have read or free choice writing.