Daily 5 Update and a Few Successes.

So you know I’m working at moving my class towards Daily 5 right?  I mean, in the past I did literacy stations and they were successful and everything, but I never felt like I got enough extended time with my students.  It always seemed so rushed.  I differentiated those literacy stations but still, I wanted more time.  So Daily 5 seemed to be like something that fit the ticket.

Right away, I knew that I would need to do some tweaking for kindergarten.  First of all I had 26 kinders!!!!!! Yep that’s what I said.  And I have a S-M- ALL . . . SMALL room.  So I didn’t want to many kiddos at any one group.  Instead of Daily 5. I’m doing Daily 6.  (Although we are only doing three of the six on a given day.)  The stations will be Read to Self, Listen To Reading, Read To Someone, Teacher Station, Work on Writing, Word Work. 

So we’ve been in school thirty plus of few days and here’s where I am in the process of implementation.  The first station introduced was Read to Self.   Our goal was to get to two days in a row of 15 minutes of uninterrupted, quiet, on-task reading.

Last week we did it!!

So this week we celebrated.  A pajama-fort-read in the dark plus treats-party.

How can you not LOVE reading when your room is turned into one big fort.

 I always say, if it’s not fun for me, then it won’t be fun for them. This was reading made FUN.

They loved it.  

Next in the implementation of Daily 6 I introduced Listen To Reading. I used to have one of those 5-7 person listening centers, but I was determined this year to have my kids more independent, spread out and really working during this time with individual cd players.  Yes, it took some demonstrating.  (When you have 26 to model for you sometimes you have to climb on a table.)

I’m so lucky that my kindergarten teacher neighbor, Kerri’s, MIL made me these gorgeous bags for me listening center. 

Do you love them?  I do. 

Big enough for a clipboard, cd player book and there’s a pocket for crayons and a pencil.  If you missed out on my free response sheets you can get them by clicking below.

I also have Listen To Reading posters and cards that can go right on your bags

Now Working on Writing is something they have been doing since day one.  Only I have been having my aide man that station.  She has been introducing different writing activities and expectations for these first
couple of weeks so that when it comes time to be independent, they are ready go. 

This is kind of the same for Word Work except I have been gradually weaning my time away from Word Work activities to meet with groups.  Because the activities are somewhat similar and familiar they are on the cusp of being independent. We are so close.

So the last one to introduce . . . the one that scares me the most . . . is Read to Someone.  I have to admit, I’m a bit afraid they aren’t going to be able to handle it. But I’m hopeful.  So I’ll check in with you in a couple of weeks and let you know how it goes. Until then, we’re making progress and gains so as Pete the Cat says ‘It’s All Good.’