Literacy Focus:
Literacy takes place after lunch basically until the end of the school day. Once they get back from lunch sometimes she has them do a little bit of science, but if they don't do that then they go straight into daily 5. Currently my students have only been introduced to read alone and read with a partner. Last week she allowed them to do word work, which was a worksheet where they played battleship with a partner using their spelling words. Unfortunately, I noticed that they all had the same spelling list and there were 2 bonus words. After each student finishes a book they take a quiz on it on a website. I have yet to find more information out on that, but it has to do with their reading levels.
Lately, my CT has been talking with me and explaining different things about the classroom or daily 5 during the time, but last week I was able to work one on one with a student that needed close attention. On normal days, my CT said she will usually pull students aside and have them read to her and work one on one with them.
Students have been showing their love for reading and they all seem to love taking the quizzes on their books when they are done. I am amazed at how quickly these students finish books. She allows them to pick what they want to do during daily 5, but if they have picked the same thing day after day, she makes them do something they have not done yet.
Even though I have not seen all of daily 5, I like the idea of it so far. They all seem to love reading and it does not make them uninterested in reading. Some of them were a little less excited about having to do the word work. However, I think if she had more engaging activities for word work then it would not be so boring for the students.
We have learned a lot about daily 5 at ISU and I have learned how well it works in many classrooms and it is starting to become popular in many school settings. I think this is something that I would like to use in my classroom one day. It gives the students a choice and it does not force them to read, so hopefully they will enjoy reading instead of looking at it as a chore.
I think having daily 5 in the classroom allows a teacher to do a lot of assessment because the students are all in different groups and she/he can walk around and assess the students. She can sit with a student and listen to them read, take anecdotal records, etc. This gives the teacher/me an opportunity to work wtih smaller groups of students as well and assess their ability levels.
