Daily 5 Book Study: Chapters 3 and 4

Welcome to week 2 of our summer book study (kind of...I am a little late to post)!! If you don't have your Daily 5 (Second Edition) book yet, you can purchase yours HERE.  I had a couple questions on my Facebook page on whether the first edition Daily 5 book would work...if you don't want to purchase the second edition, then I would say read the first edition then log on and read some of the blogs in the book study and compare!! The second edition is different and has great ideas! You can also read week 1 of the summer book study containing chapters 1 and 2 HERE.

 Chapter 3 was a BIGGIE! I will take you through some of the notes I wrote down on the 10 Steps:
1. Identify what is to be taught: Articulate to your students exactly what will be taught BEFORE the lesson begins.  This way students know what to expect and they will focus more.  I do this before EVERY lesson (not just during the daily 5). I think this is SO important and truly makes a difference.
2. Set a purpose and create a sense of urgency: Students need to know why-make sure to articulate (or write on the top of your I-Chart) reasons we do Read to Self, etc.
3. Record desired behaviors on an I-Chart: Don't brainstorm the desired behaviors as a class.  This takes too long and as the sisters mentioned before, their attention span isn't long.  Just record the desired behavior and explain each one. 
Last year I used these words and pictures to create an I-Chart (click on the image to grab a set). After we went over the behaviors and modeled them, I had all of the students sign their name right on the I-Chart.  This was their 'promise' to me to follow the 'reading rules'.  

We hung the I-Chart together in our classroom library. I loved having it in there as a reminder!
4. Model most desired behaviors: Pick students to model. Refer back to the I-Chart as they do.  When they are finished modeling the desired behavior end with, "If they continue to do this, they will be a better reader."
5. Model least desired behaviors and most again: Model the wrong behaviors and say, "If they continue to do this, it won't help them become a better reader."  Always refer back to the I-Chart. Show students that they ARE capable of following the most desired behaviors. 
6. Place students around the room: Don't dismiss all students at one time to get their book box.  Call on 5 or 6 kids at a time to get their book box and find a spot.  Place them in a spot at the beginning to save time.  Call on the shortest stamina students last. 
7. Practice and build stamina: Don't set a timer, just let them practice.  Keep a stamina chart with the date and minutes.
8. Stay out of the way: Let students practice and don't step in until they are not following your expectations.  Don't walk around, don't even praise students. They will start to get used to that and depend on you doing that.  When you are launching the Daily 5, you won't be pulling groups.  If you see a student off task give them a second before saying anything, they me just be 'resetting'.
9. Use a quiet signal to bring students back to the gathering place: As soon as a student loses stamina, stop and gather. You don't want them practicing incorrectly/spending time managing the barometer children, this will defeat the purpose of learning independently. If you use a loud signal to stop students, then they may get loud.  Play low chimes and have students clean up, put their book box back, and gather.
10. Conduct a group check in: How did it go? Refer back to your I-Chart and reflect on the day.  You can use a scale if needed.  Go over one rule at a time (example- How did we do at getting started right away?) Then, share your goals for the next time. 

WOW! Told you Chapter 3 was a BIGGIE!! This is one I will have to review a couple of times!

To get started, you definitely need to figure out what you want to use for book boxes.  I know a lot of people use these from Really Good Stuff

But, I ended up switching to these because I had an entire piece of furniture that wasn't being used (only problem is, bigger books don't always fit!)

You also need to have a gathering spot for your focus lesson.  Hopefully you have a big carpet in your classroom.  I LOVE my carpet because it has squares and I can assign each student a square to sit in :)  You can kind of see my carpet under the pile of lamination! It is from Lakeshore Learning. 

Have a space in your classroom where you can hang your I-Charts. Make sure they are somewhere accessible so you can refer back to them.

Also, make sure you have a variety of seating! You can have low tables, regular tables, high counters for standing, comfy chairs, area rugs, a loft (I wish!), single seats, etc.  Support your students in finding a good place to sit.  Maybe discuss with them that you trust them to make a good seating choice and that may mean they can't sit by their friends. 

I love these little chairs I bought at the Container Store.

I also have tons of pillows, a reading nook, a couple different areas with a carpet, etc.

Make sure you head over to my friends' blogs to read their take on these two chapters! As always, I would love to hear what you think as well!!

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