The Daily Five

By:
Joan Moser
and
Gail Boushey
*Modified by Adam Miserlian,
Gina Clark and Megan Gaura

Would you like to

Differentiate instruction in your classroom?
successfully
Teach children in small groups?
Confer individually with students?
Do all of this while the rest of your class is
fully engaged in independent reading and
writing activities?

What is The Daily Five?

The Daily Five is a literacy
structure that allows for
differentiation in the classroom
and provides consistency.
It is an integrated literacy
instruction and classroom
management system for use in
reading and writing workshops.
It is a system of five literacy
tasks that teaches students
independence.

What sets The Daily Five Apart?

For Teachers.

For Students

Deliver mini lessons to the

whole class several times
a week

Engaged in the act of

reading and writing for
extended amounts of time

Teach 1-3 small groups of

children each day

Receive focused instruction

on building and maintaining
independence

Confer with individual

students each day

Receive tailored instruction

through whole group, small
group, and/or individual
conferring, by their skilled
classroom teacher, each
day

Hold all students

accountable

Since 1946, research shows that kids need

to.
* read to be better readers
* write to be better writers

Reggie Routman and Richard Allington show that

we are use to teaching 80% of the time and
practice 20% of the time.

Now we know it needs to be us teaching 20% of

the time and students practicing 80% of the
time. It is the same as sports, you have to
physically practice to get better!

The Daily Five is.

1)Tasks

5 tasks

2)System

Teaching all students

independence

3)Structure

Providing consistency

The Daily Five does NOT hold content, it is a

structure. Content comes from your
curriculum.
Work on writing = structured time to
write
Read to self = structured time to read

Brain research from Michael

Grinder shows that a childs age
is equal to how many minutes of
direct instruction they can stick
within the upper cortex of their
brain. After that time, thinking
shifts to the lower cortex
(which controls eating, sleeping,
breathing).

This is why direct instruction

lessons are BRIEF!!

Why is it called The Daily

Five?
There isnt time for five
It is called The Daily
Five because there are five
rounds!

literacy components for children to choose from when

they go off to work. These components are:
Read to Self
Read to Someone
Listen to Reading
Work on Writing
Working with Words

It is NOT called The Daily Five because they have to

do all 5 each day.

These foundations are important to The

Daily Five:
Trusting students
Providing choice
Nurturing community
Creating a sense of urgency
Building stamina
Staying out of students way once routines
are established

Trusting Students
Trusting children is the
underpinning of what makes the
Daily Five work.
When trust is combined with explicit
instruction, our students acquire the
skills necessary to become
independent learners.
The Daily Five works because we
gradually build behaviors that can
be sustained over time so children
can easily be trusted to manage on
their own.

Providing Choice
Although giving children the
power to choose makes us a
little nervous, it puts them in
charge of their own learning,
is self-motivating, and will
improve their skills.
Purpose + Choice =
Motivation

Nurturing
Community
A sense of community provides
members with ownership to
hold others accountable for
behaviors of effort, learning,
order, and kindness.
During Daily Five the class
becomes a community that
works together to encourage
and support each other.

Creating a Sense
of
Urgency
Answers the questions Why do

we have to do it? & Whats in

it for me?
When people understand the
reason for a task, it establishes
motivation and becomes a force
that keeps them persevering.
Sense of urgency comes from
understanding the why.

Building Stamina
Lays the foundation for success as
it gives children the support they
need.
Teaching children how to read on
their own for extended periods of
time each day creates the selfwinding learner that is actively
engaged in the reading process
because they have the stamina to
be independent.

Stay Out of the

Way
How can students make decisions

on their own and monitor

themselves regarding their
progress if they are never given
the chance to try it on their own?
After training, children understand
what is expected of them, have
practiced the strategies, and have
built their stamina now we need
to stand back and let them be
independent.

P. 28 Although the foundations of D5 create a strong base

for student independence, there are also key materials,
routines, and concepts we introduce to children in the first
days of school that are crucial to the success of the program:

1. Establishing a gathering place for brain and body breaks

2. Developing the concept of good-fit books through a
series of lessons
3. Short, repeated intervals of independent practice
4. Calm signals and check-in and/or recording procedures

1. Establish a Gathering Place

Open space large enough for the whole class to come together
and sit on the floor.

Regardless of the age of children we teach, we always have a

gathering place.
Distractions are limited and proximity allows us to check in on behavior more
effectively
Students are able to turn and talk to each other, engaging everyone in the
conversation of a less

Gathering on the floor signals a shift in activity and thinking

- It provides time for a change in their brain work along with much need
movement of their bodies (Brain and Body Break).

2. Good-Fit Books
Research indicates that an independent-level or good-fit book
for children is one they can read with 99% accuracy. (Richard
Allington, March 2005)
Higher levels of oral reading error rate are linked to
significant increases in off-task behavior. (Gambrell, Wilson,
and Gantt, 1981)
It is essential to spend focused classroom time teaching our
children to choose books that are a good fit for them and
they enjoy.
There is more to choosing a good-fit book than just reading
the words. A childs purpose for reading, interest in a topic,
and ability to comphrehend play a large role in finding a goodfit book.

I PICK
1.
2.
3.
4.

I choose a book
P urpose Why do I want to read it?
I nterest Does it interest me?
C omprehend Am I understanding what I am

reading?
5. K now I know most of the words
* After they grasp the concept of I PICK,
have them model their book choices in
front of whole class.

Setting Up the Book Boxes

Have a separate book box for each
student.
Use small plastic tubs, cereal boxes, or even
ask parents to send one with each child

5 10 books in box
Self-selection of books depends on age

Reading Response Notebook

Book box has assigned spot it is kept

3. Short Intervals of Repeated Practice

The brain receives input through 3
different external memory systems: visual,
auditory, and kinesthetic.
Memory stored in the kinesthetic system
evokes the longest memory.
To activate this system, kinesthetic
learning experiences are provided and then
labeled so children hear and feel what
they are doing. This movement is stored in
muscle memory and becomes part of their
default behaviors.

4. Signals and Check-in

SIGNALS
Teach children to quickly respond to a signal so
they know it is time to gather and check back in.
You want something that will grab attention but
not break the tone of a classroom.
Explain the signal and its purpose on the first
day of the year. Make an anchor chart together
and write down ideas about what it would look
like and sound like in the room when the signal
goes off. Then, practice, practice, practice!
Each time revisiting the
anchor chart in-between!
*Teaches children to be self-reflective

5 Tasks of The Daily Five

1. Read to Self
2. Read to Someone
3. Work on Writing
4. Listen to Reading
5. Word Work

Read to Self
Reading from their own
book baskets in a private
book nook
Practicing skills and
completing IDR tasks

Work on Writing
Students can select from our Writing Board

Read to Someone
Model and practice how partners read.
* Teach I Read, You Read taking turns
Students can select a book from the partner reading basket.

Listen to Reading
You can use computer websites, ipods, and books on tape

* Introduce materials and their locations to students.

* Model finding the materials, materials placement in the room, and setup of
materials
* Model materials placement in the room, setup, and cleanup of the materials
* Model and practice student behaviors of how to use materials

Ideas for Word Work:

Word games

Playdoh (pinch and poke / roll)

Write the room

Pipe cleaners

Clay (press in lid of coffee can and

write with a golf tee)

Rainbow write

Magnadoodle

Wikki sticks

Jr. Boggle game

Dry erase boards

Scrabble tiles

Beans

Bingo dabbers

Alphabet stamps

Magnetic letters

Chalk boxes (spray cardboard box

with chalk paint)

Etch a sketch

If you encounter problems

ask yourself these questions:
Did I allow enough time for training muscle
memory?
Am I staying out of the way and allowing the
children to work independently?
Am I allowing choice?
Are some children allowed to share each day?
Have I had behaviors modeled correctly and
incorrectly?
Who can I collaborate with for support?

What does it look like?

See attached sample lesson
plan ideas
**Do what works for YOU!