Daily 5 in the Upper Elementary Classroom
As you prepare your upper elementary classroom and begin your planning, I wanted to share some ideas for implementing the Daily 5 into your teaching. The Daily 5 turned Daily 4 was a huge undertaking in my 6th grade classroom, so I wanted to share some tips and tricks as you begin the year in your upper elementary classroom…
My focus for my 110 minutes of instructional time was word
work, writing, read to someone, and read to self. Before you get the idea that all of these
tasks were happening each and every day and in seamless fashion, don’t fret,
they weren’t! I realized that each had a
place and I needed to find that spot in the day/week in order to make the
schedule work for my students, the demands of testing, and the expectation of
administration.
Here is how it worked best for my students and me…
Word Work was the
easiest component to incorporate because I begin every day/class with a morning
starter/bell ringer. Three different
tools for this are: Word of the Day,
Boggle, and the spelling component from Reading Street. A huge weakness for my students is
vocabulary, therefore having it in three different resources proved invaluable.
The BOGGLE Board was an enrichment activity that students
could work on any time they finished classroom work. I changed the letters on the board weekly,
they could grab a new sheet from the board, and turn in on Friday. Some of my students AMAZED me with the words
they found. For those that love puzzles
and word searches, this is a classroom must-have.
My Word of the Day resource was something I created to meet
the needs of my students. I was unable
to find a vocabulary resource that I could utilize in only minutes per
day. In addition, my students STRUGGLE
with identifying synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, suffixes, and roots, so this was
created to enhance their understanding.
Twice a week the word would be posted on the MIMIO or Smart board, and
my students would record the definition, identify any synonyms, antonyms, affixes,
create a picture of the word, and use it in a sentence. I just completed Context Clue Task Cards as a companion tool to Word of the Day. These can be used as a center tool or as a whole class "scoot" for independent work, small group, or team word work fun.
This is the student page that can be completed with Word of the Day. |
There are 84 task cards in the pack, 7-sets of 12 cards with a student answer document and answer key for quick implementation. |
The spelling component of Reading Street was my other word
work source. On Monday we would go over
the rule of the list, define the words using context clues as a whole class, and
my students would write the words 5X each.
That may sound a bit dated, but the only practice my students get with
these words is in the classroom.
Studying at home is a challenge for the majority, so I need to make sure
their understanding and grasping of words truly takes place in the classroom. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we will
do different word games and activities with the spelling list words, so that by
Friday, spelling test day, they are prepared, and can not only spell the words
correctly, but incorporate them into their writing pieces and written
responses.
Spelling game in action. |
Students are paired up in the seating arrangement based on their reading ability. This makes transitioning to different tasks-read to someone, much more efficient. |
Writing is done
in multiple ways in my upper elementary classroom through written responses to
reading, Photo of the Day writing, end of novel projects, and general writing
instruction. I just completed this Writing Rules! resource that incorporates lessons, prompts, and rubrics for every CCSS for grades 4-6.
This tool is an example of
how I teach essay writing. Click the
image to download this FREEBIE…
Photo of the Day picture prompt writing. |
End of novel unit writing. |
Essay writing. |
Publishing compare and contrast pieces. |
Read to Someone
is done daily in my classroom. One
method is through partner reading novels or mentor texts, but another tool I
utilize is a modified version of 6-Minute Solutions, which is a fluency tool
that is a necessity for 90% of my 6th graders. Because students at the 6th grade
level should be reading grade level text at a rate of 120-150 per correct per
minute, and many of my students are not quite there, I have to incorporate
fluency practice into my instructional time.
Here is how it works…I pair up students based on their fluency rates,
each student is given a reading passage at their current reading level that is
marked with the number of words. Before
the first person reads, the students exchange texts, the student on the left
(the stronger reader) always reads first for one minute, which I time, data is
recorded (number of words read in the minute minus any miscues), and then
repeat with the reader on the right. The
passage is read Monday-Friday with a fluency partner, and then on Friday, I
progress monitor each student for the 6th read. I keep this data in order to keep students,
parents, and administrators aware of student progress. If you are looking for a tool to enhance
speed of reading, this is a great one.
6-Minute Solutions in action. She is following and marking the text as he is reading aloud. |
The boys are partner reading the assigned text and working on reader response questions. |
Read to Self is
another daily component. We are always
reading a novel or navigating a reading selection to enhance our knowledge of reading
literature or informational text. While
I will instruct or work with reading groups for a period of time each day,
students will also be given designated time for read to self. I can’t say it is a period that we build stamina
for, instead it is a time students are allotted daily. When they have completed reading that is
assigned during class, my students have the opportunity to read their library
books or magazines, books, or other texts from around the classroom.
Read to self time. |
Struggles in
implementing the Daily 4…
- Book box organization due to the need for 65 books boxes
- Allowing students to choose the focus of learning without me directing them
I would love to hear how you manage these components in your
upper elementary classroom.
4 Comments:
Can you post a schedule of the breakdown? I teach Reading Streets and am trying to implement Daily 4 but I only have a 65 minute Ela period. I follow you on TPT as well so thank you for the ideas!
Here is a breakdown of what a typical class would look like...
Morning Work/Bell Ringer/Spelling/Word Work: 8:35-8:45
Read to Someone 6-Minute Solutions: 8:45-8:50
Specials cut up this bell: 8:50-9:25
Reading Instruction: 9:30-10:00
Read to Self/Writing/Small Groups: 10:00-11:00
I hope that helps! I am sure you want to punch me with 105-110 minutes!
Thank you for sharing! Great ideas that I will use. Are the Boggle letters random letters you've chose? Or is there specific letters that you incorporate?
Hi Ashley!
The Boggle letters are randomly placed on the board. I have printed off all letters from A-Z and I do make sure to have all of the vowels in each board. I want to make it challenging, but I want my students to find success as well. Another quick tip is to do a quick scan to make sure that no inappropriate words can be readily created from the letter combinations. I hope your students enjoy the Boggle word work as much as mine have!
Hope you have a great rest of your school year!
Erin
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