Happy Sunday to all of you! I can’t believe all of the amazing emails and comments about The Daily Five you all have left me. Some of them are really long and I really appreciate the time and energy you took to type it all. SO SWEET! 🙂
My partner just left and we planned for about 4 hours . . . among lots of talking about off topic things. One major topic of discussion was her daughter, Alyssa, who works at the Mall School. It’s . . . different. Especially recess and bathroom breaks. She is adjusting. I have high hopes that it will get better each day!
I read the whole book last night. It was a quick read!! And now, after going over everything with my partner, we decided to do The Daily Five. Laurie is totally on board and we are excited to try something new. We are both a little worried about starting something and then finding out it doesn’t work for us which would result in changing things up on the kids. We both love routine and consistency. But I assured her that ALL OF YOU said IT IS AWESOME and that YOU LOVE IT and that we can tweak it to meet our needs. We are both really looking forward to the shoe lesson for I-PICK. LOVE it!!
So I have one final question and I hope it makes sense. I hope just one person (but several would be great) will explain it to me. I hope I’m not beating you over the head with this.
Here goes: I teach a mini-Phonics lesson. My kids break out into The Daily Five. I pull kids. I get that. I love that. I’m looking forward to that.
BUT HOW DO I KNOW MY KIDS CAN APPLY THE PHONICS SKILL IF I DON’T HAVE SOMETHING (worksheet) TO CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING? (this is all in caps because I’m confused and also, can you hear me??)
I love the idea of not checking over papers at the end of the day or during my lunch. What a great idea!!! But I feel like the ladies skipped over that part of the book. They just don’t look at any papers? There are never any papers? No comprehension quizzes? No spelling tests? No phonics worksheets? No response to literature? Does anyone get what I am saying?
I will leave you with a cute pic. I couldn’t help myself. I brought home all of the stuffed animals in my classroom and put them in the washing machine for a little spin. And then I put them in my guest bathroom tub to dry. I thought they looked so funny!
Now I am off to search for cute Daily 5 cards because I know you all have them somewhere! 🙂 I’m really excited about this! Thanks again for all of your help and please, SOMEBODY, address my question and concern. I would SO appreciate it. I thought about giving you a phonics worksheet cut and paste thing like I have before but then I thought . . . maybe not? Since it’s a worksheet? As you can see, I need some guidance. Does anyone know where the sisters live? Maybe I could go over there for dinner . . .
I do Daily 5 (have you been reading my series on my blog?!), but I teach 4th grade..so no phonics. One thought I had is can you judge their grasp of the phonics skill by how the students perform in the mini-lesson and small groups? I've done Daily 5 for two years, and I will say the hardest thing I had to get used to was the lack of papers to grade. I know, weird. I still do spelling tests-but no homework. They are to practice their pattern during Daily 5 (no set lists). Good Luck! I know you will LOVE daily 5! If you haven't already, make sure you visit my blog!
Rachel
Go Fourth! With Mrs. Owens
I know I don't come from the daily 5 background, but I've heard that their system is very flexible and you can work it to meet your needs. At our school we are required to have products for all of our centers. It doesn't end up being to difficult. If they are sorting words, we just have them record or glue their word sort on paper. If they are building words with magnet letters, we have them write and code their words(write c's for consonants and v's for vowels, breves and macrons, circle endings, underline basewords, etc). We use a lot of thinking maps, especially flow maps and bubble maps. I honestly envy people who use daily 5 because I think there is less prep work to it (??? maybe???). You can have one product for an activity regardless of the skill. For example my mentor teacher would have the kids write down the title of the book they buddy read, the person they read it to, and write or draw about their favorite part. This product then stayed the same all year, same with listening to reading. She just had to replenish copies when they were running low. I'd recommend checking out Gay Su Pinnell & Irene C. Fountas's Phonics Lessons, Letters, Words & How They Work. They have some great phonics mini lessons with products that aren't so worksheety. I find it hard to use in tandem with the Houghton Mifflin curriculum because it introduces skills in a different order, but since you have such a long literacy instruction time you might find it easier.
Tammi
Having Fun K-1
TammiL(dot)13(at)gmail(dot)com
I've done Daily 5 for the past 7 years and every year I tweak it just a bit.
As far as your question, I teach the phonics skill of the week (mini-lessons throughout the week.) The kids do their Daily Five choices and usually I'll use that phonics skill in my Word Work station (which can be a worksheet sometimes.)
However, I check to see if they have the skill during my guided reading groups (or strategy groups.) I keep annotated notes weekly and check off students who have mastered the phonics skill or students who need more practice. If they need more practice, I will pull them aside for a conference and work on that skill.
Most of the time, the kids will pick it up as long as I spiral the skills with those struggling babies. (During Guided Reading or throw it in will we wait in line or have lag time.)
I hope this helps!
Andi
You can check phonics skills without a worksheet! Are they getting the concept during guided reading groups/strategy groups/1-on-1 conferring? These checks will help you know if they are grasping those concepts!
I agree with some of the above comments – I use Daily 5 and Houghton Mifflin, as well as Phonics Dance. After my phonics mini-lesson, we often do a short (1/2 sheet) phonics worksheet and I collect those. Or, I plan ahead and have my phonics concepts in the word work area as a word sort or other activity, and the students turn in a recording sheet of some sort. I do enjoy having less papers to check, but often I feel that students are not as focused without the accountability of having to turn a product of some sort in.
I am starting Daily 5 this year too. I'm nervous about trying something new, but I can think of so many students who would have liked this type of independent work instead of worksheets. I am planning to teach a phonics lesson, have the students go to their desks and do the supporting worksheet, then break into another Daily 5. I have my first graders keep a simple folder on their desks where all completed work goes. When we do a worksheet, I try to walk around and correct right then. Finished kids either color the pictures on the page or read for a few minutes while I correct. They have a science book and Houghton Mifflin reading book in their desks, so they don't have to use Daily 5 books. I hope this helps. It will be fun to track your progress and we both try this out!
http://www.firstgradefoundme.blogspot.com
I personally think you see if kids have a phonics skill when they apply it in their writing. I tend to teach phonics either in reading group or individually as they read or write. I don't do a bunch of whole group lessons for phonics because my kids have such a wide range of abilities. Worksheets don't show me very much. I need to know if they are applying the skills.
I use Houghton Mifflin and Daily 5. I still have weekly comprehension test that I'm required to do. I also monthly assess my kids through reading running records which gives me so much information. So really whatever works for you. 🙂
Rambling About Reading
I have found lots of cute word work activities from blogs. Many are the type where the children sort cards, or match pictures to words, but then have a recording sheet (essentially a worksheet). I don't think there's anything wrong with a worksheet. Some days they will spell out words with playdough, wiki sticks, magnetic letters, letters from magazines… I try to mix it up so they don't get bored. If it's a worksheet, I try to find the more fun ones- like cut and paste or a making words activity. Just make sure to introduce the phonics skill before their 5 choices start and you'll be fine.
Just Add Clipart
When I do my mini-lessons and we actually have 3 rounds- I did something in the reading series/Cafe, then writing, then the 3rd mini lesson I did a recap- oh let's call a game lol we reviewed one of the skills- everyone gets a chance to answer and I can make a note of who I need to work more with.
Jennifer
This is one of my new favorite blogs! You are so funny-I love reading these funny, creative blogs from so many young teachers!! I ESPECIALLY like how tiny you made the word "worksheet!"
Hello friend! I just HAVE to comment about the Daily Five. It is amazing! Once you start, you won't want to go back. It not only gave ME more time, but the amount of time my kids spent reading increased! Also, when I had my umm..hum.. year of SEVEN kids on academic IEPS's and two aides, it was a lifesavor. My aides always knew what to do when they walked in the door and the kids did too. As far as checking the phonics skill, I kept a clipboard for the week and checked it off when I checked in with kids during guided reading groups. If their group wasn't going to be called that day, I checked in with them during reading conferences. Occasionally, on a reread of the story, I would have the kids buddy read whole group and they would mark a post it on the spot where they applied the strategy. The Daily Five is amazing and you can totally change it to meet your needs. With every year being different, it is so reassuring as a teacher. Soooo, with that being said, your sweet class + The Daily Five = HEAVEN!!! Miss you.