How to Structure the Daily Five into a Classroom

Do the Daily Five with your class.

"The Daily Five" is a book and educational philosophy written by two sisters that is currently a popular reading theory. There are five main points to teaching reading. If you can incorporate these five things into your daily curriculum, the creators of the philosophy believe that you will help enhance the reading levels of your students. Each of the Daily Five can be done at any time during the day, so you can build your curriculum around the tasks or use them where and when you have the time.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Provide time for students to read. A good way to do this is to start the day with ten minutes of silent reading or to end the day with a few minutes of silent reading. You can also add a few minutes of silent reading to the time right after lunch, before a recess or at the end of a class. If you keep in mind that you need to have students read for a few minutes each day, you'll find times to fit it in. This is "Read to Self."

2. Create space for students to work on writing each day. They can revise papers they've written or write in a journal. You could start the day with ten minutes of journal writing and then have students read for ten more minutes, which would get both of these done within the first twenty minutes of your day. This is "Work on Writing."

3. Have students read aloud to someone else each day. This could be something as complex as having students do read-aloud periods for reading class or as simple as having students each read a paragraph in their text books aloud while you are teaching. You can fit this into any class during your day. This is "Read to Someone."

4. Create time for students to work on words. This can be spelling practice, word games or individual center work. This is "Word Work."

5. Give students time each day to listen to reading. Begin a book and read a chapter to your students each afternoon before school is over or after your lunch period. This is "Listen to Reading."

References

• The2Sisters: The Daily Five