It won’t be long until you hear your child talking about “The Daily Five.” The purpose of this blog is to fill you in on what The Daily Five is all about, so you don’t have to nod your head while wondering what in the world your child is referring to. 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 teachers 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 is comprised of:
• Read to Self
• Work on Writing
• Read with a Partner
• Listen to Reading
• Word Work
There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each Daily 5 component. We have been spending our first weeks working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of the Daily 5 and fostering our classroom community.Last week students worked their "Read to Self" and "Read with a Partner" stamina up to 25 minutes! This week we introduced "Work on Writing", and "Listen to Reading." Next week we will begin "Word Work." The students are very excited and proud of their new skills.
We have also been spending time learning about your child’s strengths and greatest needs as a reader in order to best plan for each student’s instruction. Students will be spending most of their time actually reading "Just Right Books", which research supports as the number one way to improve reading. We anticipate the motivation and enjoyment of reading will skyrocket when this gift of choosing their own books is accompanied by extended practice and specific reading instruction for each individual child.~1st and 2nd Grade Literacy Night~
If you are interested in learning more about the Daily 5 and the strategies your child is learning about at school, join us for Literacy Night in the commons on Thursday, October 7th from 6:00 to 7:30. We will have strategies and tools for you to take home to help your child with reading. Child care will be available.
The Golden Rule
Today we read The Golden Rule, by Ilene Cooper. This is a very important book to the Manatee students, as the golden rule is one of our classroom rules. "Treat others as you would want to be treated." We talk about it every day, and learn to think about others in our deeds and actions.
In addition to listening to the book, students also decided on their class rules today. They verbalized five rules they all agreed would be the basis of expectations for the remainder of the school year:
Class Rules
Follow the Golden Rule
Keep your hands and body to yourself.
Raise your hand to talk. Be a good listener.
Solve problems by talking to each other.
Always do your best.
