Getting Started with Daily Five

We are well into Fall and it is actually already October!!!  We are finally settling into our routines and are starting to build relationships.  Coming from a class with some looped kids.....if feels so weird to not know who this little children are; even though we see each other for 8 hours a day.

One staple in my classroom every year is daily five.  I have tweaked it each year for various reasons.  Some to fit the age of my kids and other times to increase effectiveness.  This year is no different.  Every teacher knows there is NEVER enough time in the day, so for 3rd grade I have switched from three 15-minute rounds to two 15-minute rounds.  In my extra time I have built in a fluency block.

The other difference is the launch time was MUCH less compared to when I taught K and 1st.  We were able to launch all five areas in less than 20 days. Due to the fact that our school uses Accelerated Reader we also have a designated 30 minutes of Read to Self everyday.  Another aspect I would never skip, no matter the grade level, is building stamina.  Start small and build their independence.  Don't assume the kids know anything.

In order to manage our Word Work area I developed these tic-tac-toe menus that my kids use each week.  The A and B sheets are different from one another, however all A sheets are the same every month and all B sheets are the same every month.  The kids are already getting the hang of picking up there papers each Monday and making a plan for what they will do that week when they choose word work.  You can click the image to take you to my TPT store and grab sheets for the entire year for only $2!

We also manage our Word Work area with Word Work notebooks.  The kids each have a designated notebook to complete all the activities in.  I do not look at them every week, but they do keep the kids accountable for the work they should be completing.

I was tempted to cut the listening to reading area for third grade and so glad I didn't!  This area is FULL every single round!  I added a writing component, which you can see sticking to the wall just above the cd player.  The kids have a writing notebook where they are responding to the books they are listening to.  The questions include reading skills such as main idea, story elements, predictions, cause/effect, and more.

Although we have our afternoon Read to Self, some kids just can't help but read all day.  Here is a book addict all comfy and cozy during our Daily Five time.  I love that Daily Five gives the students the power to choose.