More on The Daily 5-How on EARTH will this work?

Thanks to my new e-mail pal, Libby, a fellow 6th grade teacher from Wisconsin, I thought I would add a few more tidbits we had gone back and forth about for making The Daily 5, or for us, The Daily 3, work in the middle grades classroom. 

Question #1~How will the PIZZA BOXES work as book boxes?
My plan is to turn them on the side so they look similar to a magazine box.  I will cut each box at a slant so there is an opening for books and the writing journal to be easily accessible for each student.  I will tape them for sturdiness, and have students decorate and write names vertically.  The boxes will be easily accessible and can be grabbed efficiently with no learning time wasted as students transition to Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Writing.  I promise to post pictures of my "creations" as soon as they are completed.

My hope is for them to "resemble" this magazine storage box.  While it would be nice to provide one of these for each of my students-as you know classroom items add up quickly.  This is just NOT in the budget. While I know pizza boxes may not be as wide, they are taller, and FREE IS FREE!  As teachers we just learn to adapt and make things work.

Libby mentioned that her teaching peer is utilizing shoe boxes.  Another great idea!

Question #2~Where will you find 3-8 books per student to fill these book boxes?

If you have 75 students to teach, that is roughly 600 books if you provide each student with 8 books...YIKES!!! That is a huge number of books, I agree.  I have a few different resources I rely on heavily. 

First, I am always buying books.  I find a ton of books at Half-Price Books in the clearance section.  I believe most books in that area are 25-50 cents.  I LOVE that! 

My school also has the chance to shop at a FREE STORE for teachers called Crayons to Computers.  This has been a place where a ton of books for my classroom library have come from.  I have no idea what free resources are offered to teachers in other states, but look into it and take advantage of those services. 

I order lots of books from Scholastic, which has books very reasonably priced.  Take advantage of student orders because they generate points for teachers to be able to order free books for the classroom.

Lastly, I plan to utilize our drop-off teacher collection service that is offered by our public library.  By filling out a collection request based on title, author, genre, etc-a collection of books meeting your students' needs the order is dropped off by the library and can be utilized in book boxes.  At the end of the month, books are collected, picked up by the library, and a new order is dropped off.  This will keep books rotating consistently in the book boxes.

Question #3~How can I work all components-Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Writing in based on the limited time I have?

For me this remains a work in progress.  Initially, with 100 minutes my plan is to work up to 20 minutes for each component and allow for 40 minutes of instructional time.  I have much work to do in the area of I-Charts/Anchor Charts, modeling both correct and incorrect, and stamina building.  I will work tirelessly to see what makes the most sense and is the best use of time for my 6th grade learners.  I am determined to incorporate The Daily 5-The Daily 3, and sometimes that is the difference between something working out successfully or not.