teacher: Daily 5 [getting the program started]

We use the Daily 5 in my classroom. From the website itself: "The Daily 5™ is more than a management system or a curriculum framework – it is a structure that will help students develop the daily habits of reading, writing and working with peers that will lead to a lifetime of independent literacy."

The Daily 5 is made up of 5 components. They are:
1. Read to Self
2. Work on Writing
3. Read to Someone
4. Listen to Reading
5. Word Work

I'll share how mine looks.

Before you start any good program, read about it and get yourself acquainted with it. I'm one of those people who like to get it all together then launch it so I don't have to worry about it again. Because if I leave something to be done, it'll never get done. In teaching, something ALWAYS comes up. So after I figured out what I wanted to do, I got myself organized. I made a list of all the materials I would need. Then I went shopping and got all the materials. Then I spent a few days after school getting it set up and organized in my classroom. Then I launched the program. 

The idea behind the Daily 5 is that students have assignments to complete in a certain amount of time. And they can make their own decisions about when and where to complete them. Here's their assignments:
1. They do independent reading (Read to Self)
2. They read to or with another student/partner, like buddy reading  (Read to Someone)
3. They do activities with spelling words, sight words, vocabulary words, etc. (Word Work)
4. They can listen to someone read to them or do books on tape (Listen to Reading)
5. They work on responding to writing prompts or free-write (Work on Writing)

But if you turn them loose, that means you've got to be SUPER organized or it'll end up being a complete mess. I had a few weeks where I had to tweak my plans and then I got the hang of it. After that, it ran smoothly all year!

First of all, when are you going to do the Daily 5? I liked to do it first thing in the morning. That way if I have students strolling in late (like I always do) they can immediately pick up and join us without me having to stop what I'm doing and get them caught up. In my classroom, the Daily 5 started out for 30 minutes and I increased the time each week until we reached an hour. And let me just say that an hour is a long time for Daily 5! But it truly worked for this group of kids. It may not work with a future group. Every class is different! But I definitely had to SLOWLY build to an hour. Turning them lose for an hour the first week would have blown their mind. They needed a lot of guidance and direction those first few weeks.


Next, look at your list of students and decide how many students can be doing what. Usually you can have 5-6 students doing any one component. At first I assigned students to a component (think Centers) and then as the year progressed, they were able to choose where they went. 

The students need a visual of what component they are to work on. Some teachers put it on their SmartBoard and move names around. I needed my computer to do attendance and other things so using the SmartBoard was out of the question for me. I started the year using a calendar pocket chart:

But I wanted to be able to give them specific assignments so I would need ANOTHER place in the room for that. So instead, I switched to an Organization Station Pocket Chart:

This chart has deep pockets that can hold books and papers. Which was PERFECT for my Daily 5 Chart! I would put their Word Work assignment sheet in their pocket. I could put books in their pocket that I wanted them to read. And I could pin their Daily 5 "location" on their pocket:

So I've got some explaining here. 
1. You'll see that each pocket has a clothespin with a paper tag on them. I used the Daily 5: Hollywood Style (click here) posters and task cards from Laura Starnes' Teachers Pay Teachers store.
I laminated then glued them onto clothespins with Rubber Cement. I changed these out each day. Yes, it took me a few minutes every morning before they came in. But it became such a part of my routine that I hardly minded the time it took.
2. You'll see that some students have a Gifted and Talented tag on their pocket. I made these tags using the Blank Calendar Squares - Movie Theme (click here) from Ayesha Walker's Teachers Pay Teachers store. I had a group of GT students that left in the mornings (twice a week) for their GT class. So they didn't have as many Daily 5 assignments as the other students.

So at this point you're probably wondering, "how did you remember which student went to which component?!?" I kept a binder, of course! I LOVE BINDERS!!!!! I could probably write an entire post on binders.

What was I talking about?

Oh yeah, a teacher's Daily 5 binder.

I had each students name next to a daily list of the components. I would simply highlight where I wanted them each day. I wish I could remember where I got this document. But you can find tons of similar pages if you search "Daily 5 choices" in Google or TeachersPayTeachers.com. In a typical 5 day week, everyone went to one component a day. I would assign them a component and they would do it for 30 minutes. Then they could choose their own for the second 30 minutes. Remember that an hour in the Daily 5 is a long time!!

So now they know where to go. But what do they do once they get there? Well, I had to ease them into it. I spent a few weeks going over the program with them. I explained and introduced a new component each week. So yes, it took about a month to get them ready. That's okay. None of them had ever done Daily 5 before and since I'm so obsessed with organization and structure, I didn't want a room of chaos when I used the program. Plus it's the beginning of the school year. I had a million things going on so it was easier for me to plan if I only introduced a new component each week. But if you've got a group that's done Daily 5 before, they wouldn't need a lengthy introduction. Or if you're in more of a hurry than me. =)





Anyway, so each student knows where to go, but how can THEY stay organized? Well, each student had their own Daily 5 folder.

In the pocket, each student had their own Daily 5 Check Off Chart (click here). I used the one from Angela Wageman's Teachers Pay Teachers store. I used post-it notes when I copied them to cover up the components that I hadn't yet introduced (as you can see in the picture above). I took these up at the end of the week and stapled them to all their Daily 5 assignments. Mostly so they could be held accountable for actually checking off their chart, and also to send home to let the parents see what we were doing.

Inside the folder was information about each component. I didn't want a million questions coming up when they were supposed to be working. I used a combination of posters from different sources. If you go to Pinterest or Teachers Pay Teachers and type in "Daily 5," you'll be excited to see all the resources out there!

So in each folder was information for the student about the guidelines and expectations of the Daily 5 in my classroom. For example, if they were needing help picking out a book, they had a handout about how to use "IPICK" (see the one in the photo above). If they were working on Writing, they had a list of writing prompts they could use. If they were in Word Work, they had a list of activities they could do and where to find them in the room.

The student Daily 5 folder took a lot of work to make. And as I introduced each new component, they had more handouts to add to their Daily 5 folder. Looking back, there were a handful of students who utilized this resource. But many of them never even looked at them again. I went over each handout using a PowerPoint presentation (this is how I introduced each component each week) so I was making the handouts anyway. But copying them and then getting the students to look at them again was another story. I will say that the parents liked it when they came into the room. And I loved how a student could ask me "what do I do?" and I could easily refer to their Daily 5 folder. But if you're limited on time and paper, you might skip the individual Daily 5 folder. I'll probably do it again next year, but only because I've already got them all made up! =)

So I've given you an idea of how I brought the Daily 5 into my classroom.
1. I did my research and learned as much about it as I could.
2. I organized my materials and spent a few weeks introducing it to the students.
3. Each student had their own Daily 5 folder, complete with a check-off sheet to list the components they've completed and information about each component.
4. I used a pocket chart to show the students where they belonged each day and to give them their assignments.
5. I kept a binder that listed the students and where they went each day.

My next posts will be about each component and what I did! Stay tuned! =)

organizer extraordinaire, part 1

It's the summertime. Well, technically it's still Spring until late next week, but when school is out---it's summertime no matter what the calendar says. It's also week 31 of my pregnancy. I spent my last few days on contract overwhelmed and exhausted.

I received my teaching assignment for next year and I shall remain in third grade. I am particularity excited about this because I will be starting the school year in the Labor and Delivery Ward of the hospital so I need everything to be as stress-free as possible. And moving back to 4th grade would have probably been more stressful than staying in third. But unfortunately this means I am moving to a new classroom. So I had to prepare my room for moving. I'd say I did a terrible job of it. And for that I apologize to the custodians. I really didn't prepare well and so when it came down to the last few hours of work, I regretfully began shoving things into plastic bins and on book shelves to be covered with butcher paper. Probably I should call and offer to come up and help them move because I left it far from easy for them. But did I mention I'm 7 months pregnant? My booty is staying home. I will say that packing up the classroom is one of my least favorite parts of teaching, but since you only do it once a year, it's not worth complaining about.

One thing that made packing up my room easier is my year-long obsession with organization. It can get costly, mind you, but IT'S SO WORTH IT!!!

As a teacher, you have a billion materials. Okay, that's exaggerating. More like a million. But basically they go into 4 basic categories:
1. Teacher Materials
2. Teacher Supplies
3. Student Materials
4. Student Supplies

And of course I have a very precise way of keeping them all arranged.

Here is how I started the schoolyear in my classroom:

Welcome to "Nealwood!" Like Hollywood, except using my last night. My entire room theme is Movies and Hollywood.

Above is the view when you first walk in and turn to the right. This is my teacher area. Students are not allowed to wander back in this nook.  Look at all the tubs and bins and everything! This picture was taken the day before school started and I'm happy to say it remained this organized until I packed up last week! Of course I made some changes throughout the year to further my organization, but in the end, it was still neat and tidy!

Above is facing my teacher area. This is the view students would see all day long if I sat at my desk.You can see here that our classrooms are arranged in pods. So we have two sides of our room without walls! That's why I used a ton of shelves, bookcases, and bulletin boards to separate the classrooms.

The above photo is now looking at the classroom from the front. The students are arranged in groups. 

We are still in the front of the room in the above picture. Can you see my teacher area in the back? Can you also see my teacher neighbor making a funny face at me?

 The above picture gives you a good view of the back of the room including the entrance and the classroom library. Last year I used tape on the carpet to keep the students' desks straight but I can't use these lines with my new desks. Probably I should have pulled them up. But easier said than done.

 Above is from the back of the room, looking at one of the front corners.

The above photo offers a great view of the teaching area where I spend most of my day. This includes my SmartBoard. How do you like my stage curtains?

So now that you can visualize somewhat where I work all day, you can begin to understand how I organize things. If I need something to plan my teaching, it belongs in my teacher area.

You can see that EVERYTHING has a space. And each space is LABELED!! I made my own labels, but you can easily find them on TeachersPayTeachers.com or through Pinterest. Oh my gosh, thinking about labels gets me incredibly excited. There are so many cute ones out there. I wonder if I could get away with labeling everything in our house?!?

Anyway, let's continue on with how I organize my teacher materials. 

My first bit of advice? Color code your subjects. I color code each subject to make storing, filing, and organizing easier. 

Red - Science

Orange -  Social Studies

Blue - Reading

Yellow - Spelling

Pink - English

Green -  Writing

Purple - Math

Behind my desk are colored tubs that I ordered from Really Good Stuff.

Within each tub are books that I use to copy worksheets and assessments. These are the books I use most often so I keep them handy. You can see that I ordered two of each color, but I ended up stacking most of them because I didn't need two. But I have them there if I need them! I also keep a tall 4-drawer file cabinet behind my desk where I also store books and additional copies of worksheets, tests, materials, etc. I have a math drawer, science/social studies drawer, reading drawer, and writing/english drawer. There are lots of great tips on organizing a file cabinet. I was going to work on my file cabinet this year but a)I was moved to a new grade level and had to redo everything, and then b)I got preggers! Both of those reasons were enough to make me focus on other things.

Our Literacy curriculum is new. And all of the materials come in about 20 different boxes and files and tubs. So I consolidated. I asked for donations of 2.5 gallon bags from my students' parents. Then I took all the materials and put them in a bag. I keep them in plastic tubs also behind my desk. Then each week, I just grab the bag and all my materials are inside. This is where I can also keep original and additional copies of spelling tests, vocabulary practice pages, leveled practice pages, etc. and all the materials that come with the program for each weekly lesson. I started this mid-year and I am SO GLAD I did it.

 After all the copies for the week are made, I keep them behind my desk on shelves. Each shelf is labeled with a day. And each day has folders (color coded, of course) where I keep the copies. When it's time for an assignment to be distributed, I simply grab the folder!

After students have completed the assignment, they have a special place near my desk to turn in their work:

Yep, you guessed it. Colored coded completed work folders. Even the students get in on the color coding. You'll notice that the purple math folder laminated the tag folded over. When I realized this, I was faced with two options: 1. Hunt down another purple folder, print a new tag, glue it on, and laminate OR 2. Focus on more important things like educating my students.

I chose the latter.

Another idea is to color code teacher manuals. Here's what I do:

This will be all for today. Next time I'll continue to define a teacher as an organizer extraordinaire. Until then, happy summer!