Daily 5/CAFE

 

  The Daily Five is a way of structuring the reading block so every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. These research based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement, as well as help foster children who love to read and write. Students receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and write independently while I provide focused, intense instruction to individuals and small groups of students.

When it is up and running smoothly, students will be engaged in the Daily Five, which are comprised of:

 

• Read to Self–we also refer to this as D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read)

• Read to Someone–partner reading

• Listen to Reading–audio books (to build reading fluency and comprehension)

• Word Work–to build phonics skills, word knowledge, and spelling

• Work on Writing–to practice writing variety of writing styles (i.e. short stories, letters, journal entries, greeting card, poetry, etc.), grammar, and mechanics

   There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each Daily 5 component.  We will spend our first weeks working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of the Daily 5 and fostering our classroom community. I will also spend time learning about your child’s strengths and greatest needs as a reader in order to best plan for each student’s instruction.

   One thing you’ll notice that may be a change for you is a decrease in the number of worksheets your child brings home.  While worksheets keep students busy, they don’t always result in the highest level of learning I want for your child. They will be spending most of their time actually reading (perhaps not right away for some of us but that’s the goal eventually! J) which research supports as the number one way to improve reading.