The Daily 5: fostering literacy independence

The Daily 5 framework lays out a structure for getting students to read and write independently during a literacy block, freeing up the teacher for one-on-one conferences or small group instruction.
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Daily 5 is a student driven management structure designed to fully engage students in activities that support reading and writing.  It is a structure that creates routines and procedures that foster independent literacy routines that become a habit and supports life long learning. 
 
The five tasks embedded in the structure of Daily 5 are: Read to Self, Work on Writing, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading and Word Work.  Teacher’s begin with introducing read to self and then move to the task work on writing.  Students read to self and work on writing EVERY day; students work on the other 3 tasks in a rotation decided upon by the teacher.
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The framework begins with a focus lesson/mini lesson on a skill or a topic with the whole class.  The mini lessons lasts about 7-10 minutes.  After the focus lesson, students make a choice of what task they are going to work on during the round.  The round lasts approximately 15-20 minutes and it is based on student’s stamina.  When the chimes sound, students clean up their area and debrief/share.  The teacher then begins focus lesson/mini lesson for the next round.  The Daily 5 rounds may be completed at different times throughout the day or during one literacy block.
 
While the students are embedded in the tasks of Daily 5, the teacher pulls students who are needed for small group instruction, one-on-one conferences or assessments.  Students should meet with the teacher a couple times a week and the most needy are met with daily!
 
The Daily 5 Framework is NOT CONTENT, it is a structure for fostering life long learning and independence.  The 10 steps to independence formulate muscle memory, build independent learners and increase student’s stamina on reading and writing.  The teacher models/teaches the steps to independence during the focus lesson and then the students work on the tasks and build their stamina. 
 
This summer, we had 45 teachers from the region attend the kick off workshop and book study for DAILY 5, we have follow up dates in the calendar to support a smooth transition AND to support teachers and learn from one another.  If you want to learn more about Daily 5, check out the text and/or attend one of our DAILY 5’s workshops during the upcoming school year!

By:  Tessa Levitt and Shannon Dodson, CA BOCES Professional Development​