A daily routine for

reading and writing

So what is The Daily 5

thing all about?
First of all, The Daily 5 will become a big
part of your day.
It will allow you to do meaningful work
independently.
The Daily 5 includes: Read-to-Self, Read-toSomeone, Listen-to-Reading, Writing, and
Word Work (you will learn more about those
a bit later).
Now lets dig more into The Daily 5

What sets The Daily Five Apart?

For Students
For Teachers.
Deliver several whole
group lessons each day
Teach several small
groups of children each
day
Confer with individual
students each day
Hold all students
accountable for eyeson-text

Engaged in the act of

reading and writing for
extended amounts of
time
Receive focused
instruction on building
and maintaining
independence
Receive tailored
instruction through
whole group, small
group, and/or individual
conferring, by their
skilled classroom
teacher, each day

What is The Daily Five?

The Daily Five is a literacy
structure that allows for
differentiation in the classroom
and provides consistency.
It is an integrated literacy
instruction and classroom
management system.
It is a system of five literacy
tasks that teaches students
independence.

Since 1946, research shows that kids need

to.
* read to be better readers
* write to be better writers
Reggie Routman and Richard Allington show that
we are use to teaching 80% of the time and
practice 20% of the time.
Now we know it needs to be us teaching 20% of
the time and students practicing 80% of the time.
It is the same as sports, you have to physically
practice to get better!

The Daily 5
will help establish
A sense of trust
A freedom for choice
A sense of community
A sense of urgency
Stamina
Routines for Independence

A Sense of TRUST

In terms of The Daily 5, meaningful

learning will require mutual trust and
respect between the teacher and you,
the student.
Each of you is valuable and unique and
worthy of respect and caring.
It is trust that will allow you to become
independent learners.
It is trust that will allow the teacher to
focus energy on teaching, not managing

A Freedom for Choice

We all know and realize that we need and love structure and
routine. These are very much needed in the classroom.
In terms of The Daily 5, you will have a choice in your learning.
You will ask yourself questions such as What are my goals in
reading and writing?, What will I do first?, Whom will I
choose to work with?, What will I accomplish?, and What
was I working on yesterday that I want to continue today?.
Purpose + Choice= MOTIVATION!
It is choice that will motivate you and put you in charge of
your own learning!

A Sense of Community

What we experience together will weave the tapestry that will

create an environment of learning and caring.
A sense of community provides everyone with ownership to hold
others accountable for behaviors, effort, learning, order, and
kindness.
In terms of The Daily 5, everyone rejoices in each others progress.
If a classmate is disrupting others during work time, the community
will join together to encourage, support, and hold the person
accountable for his or her learning behavior.

A Sense of Urgency
In terms of The Daily 5, creating urgency in the classroom establishes
a community where every moment of learning is important.
There is a reason why you do certain tasks, and you will be taught
why you do things. An example of why is something like this.
Why do we read? Well research says that reading each day is the
best way to become a better reader- its as simple as that!
When a person understands the reason for a task, it motivates that
person to persevere.

Stamina
In terms of The Daily 5, you will need to build up stamina in
order to be successful readers and writers. Just think of the
process as a runner training for a marathon.
If you dont have the stamina to read for thirty minutes, you
will not be successful. In fact, you may even become
frustrated and lose motivation to succeed.
Therefore, it is important that you are taught how to be
successful at each of the five key components of The Daily 5.

Routines for Independence

In terms of The Daily 5, once you understand what is expected of

you, have practiced strategies, and have built up your stamina, it is
time to show-off your independence!
To be successful with The Daily 5, it is important that you show that
you can make decisions on your own and monitor yourself
regarding your own progress.
By showing independence, you will allow your teacher to work with
students in small groups (in other words, its your chance to show
your teacher that you can learn on your own!).

Other Daily 5
Essentials
Establishing a Gathering Place
Finding Good-Fit Books
Book Boxes
Anchor Charts
Signals & Check-in

~Muscle Memory~
10 Steps
1. Identify what is to be taught.
2. Set a purpose and a sense of urgency
3. Brainstorm behaviors using I chart.
4. Model the most desirable behaviors.
5. Model the least desirable behaviors.
6. Everyone model and build stamina (3 minutes).
7. Independent work (teacher stays out of the way).
8. Quiet signal to come back to group.
9. Group check-in (How did you do?).
10.Repeat steps 1-9.

Read to self
Read to
someone
Listen to
reading
Work on writing
Word work

Scene One:
Read to Self

Steps to Take

1. Lets find our gathering place.

Being able to read to yourself is the

foundation of The Daily 5.
The launching of read to self is
based on the gradual release of
responsibility- eventually, you will be
able to do this independently the
right way!

2. Discuss the three ways to read a

book:
Read the words
Read and talk to yourself about
the pictures
Retell a previously read book
3. Model read to self, practice read to
self, talk about read to self
4. Fill-out the I chart on read to self.
5. Build your stamina. Model,
practice, talk, and repeat

Scene Two:
Read to Someone
Steps to Take
Being able to read to someone will
help you become less reliant on the
teacher for assistance.
Reading to someone will allow you to
share your thinking and learning
with a friend.
Like all of the components of The
Daily 5, the launching of read to
someone is based on the gradual
release of responsibility- eventually,
you will be able to do this
independently the right way!

1. If youre not there already, lets

find our gathering place.
2. Think-Pair-Share: Why do you
suppose that reading to someone
everyday is so important?
3. Model and practice EEKK (elbows
to elbows, knees to knees).
4. Brainstorm I chart on read to
someone.
5. Build your stamina. Model,
practice, talk, and repeat

Scene Three:
Steps to Take
Listen to Reading
Listening to reading is
another way to develop
fluency and vocabulary.
Listening to reading will
allow you to relax and listen
to a good story and learn
new strategies.
Like all of the components
of The Daily 5, listening to
reading is based on the
gradual release of
responsibility- eventually,
you will be able to do this
independently the right

1. If youre not there

already, lets find our
gathering place.
2. Think-Pair-Share:
There are several ways
to listen to reading. What
are some ways to listen to
reading?
3. Brainstorm I chart on
listen to reading.
4. Build your stamina.
Model, practice, talk, and
repeat

Scene Four:
Work on Writing
Work on writing will allow you
time to spend on writing that
really matters to you:
Persuasive writing
Letters to a friend
Reports on topics of interest
Poetry
Other
Like all of the components of
The Daily 5, writing is based on
the gradual release of
responsibility- eventually, you
will be able to do this
independently the right way!

Steps to Take

1. If youre not there already,

lets find our gathering
place.
2. Think-Pair-Share: Why
do you think it is important
to write everyday?
3. Brainstorm I chart on
work on writing.
4. Build your stamina. Model,
practice, talk, and repeat

Scene Five:
Word Work (Words Their Way)
Having time during a reading block
to focus on words is critical to your
development as a reader, writer, and
communicator.
With word work, you will work on:
Experimenting with spelling
patterns
Memorizing high-frequency
words
Generalizing spelling patterns
Adding to your knowledge and
curiosity pf unique and
interesting words
Like all of the components of The
Daily 5, word work is based on the
gradual release of responsibilityeventually, you will be able to do
this independently the right way!

Steps to Take
1.

If youre not there already,

lets find our gathering place.

2.

Think-Pair-Share: Do you
know any spelling patterns?

3.

Brainstorm I chart on word

work.

4.

Build your stamina. Model,

practice, talk, and repeat

If you encounter problems ask

yourself these questions:
Did I allow enough time for training muscle memory?
Have I reviewed the I-charts?
Am I staying out of the way and allowing the children to work
independently?
Am I allowing choice?
Are some children allowed to share each day?
Have I had behaviors modeled correctly and
incorrectly?
Who can I collaborate with for support?