Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Daily 5 Chapter 2 Linky

I am totally loving this book study so far! I loved reading everyones posts and comments on Chapter 1...I am learning so much and getting some great ideas from you all!!

1. Do you trust your students? How do you build this trust? Are you able to trust them and allow them to be independent throughout all aspects of your day? Are you going to be able to stay out of their way?
I trust most of my students! I feel like you always have one or two students that you have to constantly stay on top of.  But with that said, I am going to really work on coming up with ways to guide these students better and show them how proud I am when they do a good job, etc.  I build trust starting the first week of school. I give them tasks and jobs to do. I teach them the right way to act and I model great behaviors. They learn so quickly and when they do, I am able to trust them! Now....can I stay out of their way? I really do for the most part!! But again, I have had certain students that I need to stay on top of to complete their work, follow directions, etc. Hopefully, if I teach Daily 5 the right way and I teach the students to take ownership in their learning--then other students will assist their peers in staying on task and reminding them! April Wolf emailed me a wonderful idea that would assist in building trust right off the bat, "A first step to building that I was not able to do last year, would be sending the student a post card before school starts." I LOVE this idea...I would totally do this if I could! (We don't get our class list until the afternoon before school starts!) 


2. How much choice do you give your students throughout the day? Do you go over your daily schedule with your students or is it just 'posted' in the room?
To be completely honest, I haven't been giving my students that much choice. When I am pulling reading groups, my students have been rotating to ASSIGNED literacy centers. I can't wait to switch this! I think choice is going to be so good for them! Of course I will need to thoroughly teach the centers and expectations beforehand. I also do think I will need to somewhat monitor their choices just to make sure certain students aren't choosing the same thing daily. My daily schedule is posted, we go over it daily, and I even let a student put a check mark next to each item as it is completed. They LOVE this!! This is what I use....
I am putting them on sale until tomorrow evening....AND if you don't see something in the packet that you do during your day, let me know and I will add it for you!!
3. How are you going to create that sense of community where students will hold each other accountable?
The first few weeks of school are so important in building that sense of community. As a teacher, you need to show them how to act, treat the students how you want them to treat each other, and make sure the students feel almost like they are at 'home' in the class! What I have done in the past (and it really works!) is create anchor charts with my students on expectations and rules for all aspects of the day. I have even had my students sign these anchor charts as a promise to me that they were going to follow what we made/discussed together.

4. Student ownership in learning? How do you instill this in every child?
I think it is important to talk with your children about why they are doing certain tasks throughout the day. Even before I read a book I tell them why we are reading it and why it is so important.  Some children will pick up on this urgency right away and they probably don't need to hear me constantly explaining the 'why', but others need it all the time. They are 5 and they are going to be building this ownership throughout the year!

5. Stamina! How are you going to build stamina with reading? independent work? Will you use a timer? Will you set goals?
April Wolf said in her email, "We had a goal of two minutes at first and built up to 15 minutes over  a couple of weeks. Setting a goal and celebrating it is something for the class to look forward to."  I think this is a great idea! I like the idea of setting a goal; however, I will need to make sure that 'goals' will work for my incoming class. I wouldn't want students to be only worrying about their goal and not focusing on what is really important, the learning!

Next week we are heading back over to Tammy's wonderful blog to discuss Chapter 3! I am excited to move on into the more fun parts of Daily 5! My mind has already been racing with new ideas for word work, listening, etc! 
Please link up with your Chapter 2 reflections, thoughts, experiences, ideas here:

16 comments:

  1. I am reading your post and I felt like I wrote it. We agree with SO many elements and ideas.

    I think the key to D5 is yo do what you feel comfortable with and what your kids need, while making them independent.

    Mary
    Sharing Kindergarten

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  2. Such great comments! Thanks for hosting Chapter 2. I linked up (KinderKarla) but did it wrong the first time and can't figure out how to delete my first try... sorry, I am still learning all this.
    http:\\kinderkarla.blogspot.com

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  3. Thanks for hosting the linky party and for the awesome agenda signs... sometimes that "why didn't I think of that" duh feeling just smacks me upside the head!! I have been handwriting our daily schedule for 9 years. HELLOOOOO? LOL!
    Heather
    Kickin' it in Kinder

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  4. Caitlin I totally agree! I really need to do a lot of modeling and setting my expectations, in order to build that trust and to let go of assigning centers!! It's so hard!

    Angela
    The Daily Alphabet

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  5. Great ideas! Thanks for hosting chapter 2.

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  6. Thanks soo much for hosting! I love the ideas that are being shared!

    I know you said you couldnt do a getting to know you post card but could you do a happy your in our class after the first week highlighting something awesome that kiddo is doing so far? Just a thought everyone LVOES a happy gram home!!

    I was just at a conference and listened to the keynote speaker- he mentioned stating the purpose and calling on the students to hold that to retell you WHY they are working on "said" skill. What are you going to learn he would ask them. We are going to learn _________. He said that it would take a bit but then if he forgot the kids were remind him. LOVE that! I know I dont do that often enough-- how can the students be responsible if I dont attach it to sometime that he / she can understand.

    I love the idea of learning from others. I know that I give options but I am also a control spaz and know that there is always room for improvement! I cant wait to challenge myself to see how far the students & I can go together this coming year!

    Looking forward to chapter 3!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts w/ others!

    Sarah
    shetrick@gmail.com

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  7. I think sending postcards home is a great way to kick off the year with a new class and am planning to do so myself in a few months...what a great treat for my new kiddos.

    I'm also going to encourage them (with adult help, of course) to send me a greeting, as well, to our school address and find a way to display them.

    Thanks for hosting this week, looking forward to more great discussion for Chapter 3!

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  8. Your daily agenda looks so colorful, bright, and happy! I do need to do better with that one!

    I love anchor charts! I also thought it was great that you ask students to tell some type of goal before reading... like fill out the L in the KWL chart. Great way to keep them focused and tuned in.

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  9. I see that we both are going to work on letting kids have more choice. I worry about what they will choose as well. You probably need to look at the CAFE book that is the companion to Daily 5 because they have a CD that has forms for keeping track of this stuff in a Pensieve. http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/department73.cfm. I wasn't sure about it when I started, but now I think it's a must. I am working this summer on developing a Pensieve on my iPad. I'll keep you posted on that.

    ✰ Kimberley ✰
    First in Maine

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  10. Do you / any you fellow K teachers have photos of your anchor charts that you use at the beginning of the year? That would help me tremendously.

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  11. Beadboard--if you see this...what is your email??

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  12. Hi Caitlin! smskdg@hotmail.com thanks! : )

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  13. Caitlin, wonderful post and questions outlining chapter two. I have to admit, although I go over my daily schedule, I don't post it and it's something I need to do. I think I see a purchase in my future.
    Marsha
    A Differentiated Kindergarten

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  14. I'm your newest follower! I was reading Kinder Kraziness post about your Daily Five book study and had to check you out. I am going from being a 3rd grade teacher to working as an Instructional Facilitator in a K-2 school. I will be blog stalking lots of my K friends :) I love what I have read of the Daily Five so far. I have used the Reading Workshop in my classroom for many years and this seems to make it manageable in primary grades

    Twins, Teaching and Tacos.

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  15. Hi Caitlin,

    You had a lot of great ideas! I too must work on staying on top of those one or two students who need that extra quidance.!! Thanks for the thought provoking questions for Chapter 2! They really had me thinking and developing new ideas for classroom.

    Thanks,

    Karmen @ Karmen's Kinders of Room 103

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  16. So I'm a little late in my reading, but I'm catching up quickly! I'm the only K teacher at my school so I've been figuring out things as I go! This book study is exactly what I needed! I'm a visual person so I was wondering if you have pictures of your anchor charts...I would love to get ideas on how mine should look! My email address is abbey_catherine@hotmail.com-Thankyou so much!

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