Tried it Tuesday- Putting Daily 5 Together

It's time for Tried it Tuesday!  I'm linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper to fill you in on something I tried this week.  

As you know, I am using The Daily 5 to manage my literacy block this year.  It took us over a month to build the habits and behaviors needed for independent reading and writing.  I have been really reluctant to put it all together and give students a choice in what independent work they get to do.  I was also a little slow in putting together reading groups and a reading groups schedule.  Now that I have groups and a schedule done, I decided to mesh the Daily 5 together!

Here is my new Daily 5 Check-In board.  After each "round" of group work (for me) or independent work (for kiddos), we meet on the carpet to "check-in" and see how it went.  We talk about who showed "model behavior", and also share about what they read or wrote about.

On the left, I have my list of reading groups (sorted by color).  Below it is my schedule for the week.  I see each group twice.  But, my lowest group I see every day, and my highest group I see once a week.

Each student has a magnet with their name on it.  When we check in, I first move the students who will be working with me.  The other students tell me where they want to go and I move their magnet for them (eventually, they will move their magnets on their own).  Their choices are: Read to Self, Buddy Read, Word Work, or Work on Writing.  Listening Center is currently closed for repairs.

I'm not crazy about how this board looks (it's just painter's tape and white board marker), but so far, it is functioning well.  I eventually want to make a cute title and picture for each choice.  For now, what I have will work.

The kids were super great about making a fast choice and getting started with their work right away!  AND, when I was working with students, I didn't have to micro-manage from my table!  Everyone was focused and working quietly around the room!  Daily 5 at it's finest!  :)

Tried blending the Daily 5 together… worked!  

Side note:  It is currently snowing here in the Twin Cities… We are forecasted to get 4-7 inches.  Welcome, winter weather!  I missed you so much…

What did you try in your classroom this week?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Daily 5 Anchor Charts

I have been using the Daily 5 this year, and so far I am loving it!  My students are loving it, too!  Some of them have even told me that they actually like reading!  :)

If you are unfamiliar with the Daily 5, it is a system that helps manage your literacy block.  Students spend the first month building habits for working independently on reading and writing.  That way, when you are conferencing with students and working with small groups, the other students know exactly what is expected of them, and they can work independently without interrupting your group time.

Setting up the Daily 5 takes about a month.  We are about halfway through the setup, and have introduced Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Buddy Reading (Read to Someone).  We still need to introduce Word Work and Listen to Reading.

As we introduce each new component of the Daily 5, we make a chart as a class, to help us remember behaviors for each component.  The charts tell what the students' job is to do, and what my job as a teacher is to do.

Here are some of my anchor charts.  If you have any questions about them, please ask!  This is my first year doing Daily 5, but I can share my experiences and how I've made it work for my group of kids!

Here are the behavior expectations for Read to Self.  We discuss these expectations before we practice, and also afterwards, to see if we met the expectations or if we can try harder next time.

We also talked about ways we can read a book.  We can read the pictures, read the words, or retell the story using the words and pictures.

I really want my kids to focus on choosing "Good Fit Books" this year.  For example, last week in the library, one of my students insisted on checking out Twilight, because she had seen the movie.  I understand the connection, but that is definitely not a good fit book for a 3rd grader.  To choose a "Good Fit Book", we use "I Pick"

I- I choose a book

P- Purpose (Why do I want to read it?)

I- Interest (Does it interest me?)

C- Comprehend (Do I understand what I read?)

K- Know (I know most of the words.)

These are some of the strategy cards the kids can refer to while they read.  At the beginning of the year, I used a read-aloud to model each strategy.  After practicing Read to Self, I check in with students to see if anyone used a strategy while they read.

After we had a good start with Read to Self, we started Work on Writing.  I gave each student a notebook, and during Work on Writing, their job is to write about whatever they want.  We brainstormed a list of topics, and I sent them on their way.  Now, each day when we check-in, I give them the option of continuing what they started yesterday, or starting something new.

Now on to their favorite (and the most challenging to build stamina for)- Buddy Reading!

For Buddy Reading, students have to sit EEKK (Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee).  There are three ways to Buddy Read:

Read 2 Different Books

Check for Understanding

I Read, You Read

(I can go into more detail with these in a later post.  I introduced each one individually, and gave the students a day to practice each one.  On the fourth day, I gave them a choice of which way they'd like to read with their buddy.  It didn't go so well... so we started from the beginning and practiced each one individually before I let them try choosing again.)

My front whiteboard is where I keep all of my anchor charts.  Once we start using Daily 5 independently, I will move these charts to free up my whiteboard space.  But for now, this is like Daily 5 Headquarters.

I am hoping to put together a "Daily 5 Starter Kit" to help teachers who are new to the Daily 5 get started with all of the setup.  Would anyone else find that helpful?  If you have any questions about my anchor charts, please let me know!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Back to School Week

After a wonderful first day of school, I was all set for the rest of the week!

It was still HOT in our classroom... In fact-- on Thursday a fuse blew and the power went out on our side of the building.... which meant no air and no fans... so we went down to a Kindergarten room that did have air, and read to the kinders while they restored our power.

Here's how the rest of the week looked in Miss Woodward's Class...

We continued practicing Read to Self.  They are doing wonderfully with this!  They are also very honest when it comes to the check-ins between practices.

We discussed our "Hopes and Dreams" for the school year and for the future.  We wrote about what we hope to learn this year in third grade, and what we want to be when we grow up.  We displayed our Hopes and Dreams with a craft.  

How cute are these little hot air balloons?!  :)

I had a template for them to trace their balloon and basket.  I also printed out their first day of school pictures for them to cut out and put in the basket.

 When the fans are blowing, their little baskets sway back and forth as if they are really floating through the room!  :)

We also made some "post-it" posters.  I found this idea on another blog.  :)  I wrote a question on chart paper, and they used a sticky note to write their response.  I asked these questions:

-What do you hope to learn this year in third grade?

-What should kids in our class be doing to make things go as smoothly as possible this year?

-What will Miss Woodward need to do to help you this year?

-What will YOU need to do this year in order to be successful?

-School is important because _____.

-Our classroom should be _______ every day.

Some of their responses were kind of funny.  They thought our room should be calm every day, they asked for lots of homework, and thought kids should be nice to Miss Woodward and each other.  :)

This week, we also did a "Who am I?" book.  

They first wrote a page about themselves... leaving out their name.

Then, they wrote their name on the next page and drew a picture of themselves.  I can't wait to bind this into a classroom book to help kids get to know each other.  I also think this could work for kids as young as kinders.  :)

You can download my version for FREE at my TpT store!

And finally, we decorated our book bins.  Read about our book bins here.  I found these book bins at Ikea in a package of five for $2.

It was quite a busy week!  Can't wait to start another one!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

First Day of School!

Happy First Day of School!

Whether some of you have been in school for a few weeks now, or start after Labor Day like many schools in Minnesota, "back to school season" is here.

Our school started this past Monday, and I am already LOVING how this school year is going.  :)  Here is how the first day of school went.

To start the day, I took a tip from Clutter Free Classroom and made a little ball of play dough for each of my students.  Read about that project here.

The kids were a little apprehensive when they came in, but once they started poking and prodding at their play dough, they had so much fun!  It was such a great way to ease any nervousness and welcome my students into their new classroom.

For reading, we started Daily 5... I bought the book that started it all here.  This is my first year trying Daily 5, so if you have any suggestions of how you use Daily 5 in your room, I would love to hear them!  

We talked about Read to Self, and what it should look like, sound like, and feel like.  I put one bin of my classroom books on each table, and I let them look through and choose three books for their book bins.  Then we started practicing Read to Self.  We practiced a few times, checking in between each practice to share celebrations and things they felt they needed to work on.

Some chose to read at their seats, and some chose other places around the room.  I could tell that they liked getting to choose whatever looked interesting to them to read.

For writing, I read them the story First Day Jitters.  We talked and wrote about what "jitters" might be, and a time they have felt "the jitters".  

For math, we explored manipulatives.  I put a bin of mainpuatives at each table, and students got to explore them for five minutes.  After five minutes, they rotated to a new table and explored a new manipulative.  After they had visited all of the tables, we discussed the purpose for using manipulatives and what each one can be used for.

I had things like pattern blocks, unifix cubes, base-10 blocks, and fraction circles out for students to use.

As if our day wasn't busy and crazy enough.... It was about 95 degrees outside, which meant it was much warmer inside.  We have a small window air conditioner in our room, but it has trouble keeping our room cool enough.  We kept the lights off most of the day to try and stay cooler.  We also had a "code blue" (missing kindergartener who was found after about an hour), AND an unplanned fire drill (something had set the system off).   What a way to kick off the year!

Overall though, my first day with my new kiddos went great.  I am so excited for this year!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward