Daily 5 Series: D5 Choice Management

1. Read to Self
2. Read with Someone
3. Word Work
4. Listen to Reading
5. Read with a Teacher/Teacher Time

How in the world do I organize 26 third graders for Daily 5?

That was my biggest question, challenge, and barrier to launching the Daily 5 (D5) in my class this year. I had read the book, followed blogs, looked on Pinterest, but taking that initial step was the hardest part!

After we had set up each choice as a class, written our expectations anchor charts, and modeled what was the wrong way and the right way to work in each center, I began trying several ways to make this work class-wide.

1. Finding the Time
I first had to find a large chunk of time for this- being able to get through as many choices as possible in a week was important, so I lumped some of my language study time in with my Reader's Workshop time to get a big block of 75(ish) minutes. That allowed me to have 3 25-minute sessions each day. I knew that kids would be able to work on their spelling words during Word Work time, so I just had to challenge myself to be extra-purposeful with the remaining Language Study time I had not lumped into D5.

2. Building the D5 Lingo
I then began splitting our practice sessions, once our stamina had been built to a significant amount, into these three sessions. I began referring to these different breaks as "sessions" and used the different D5 choice names as I saw kiddos working on them- I wanted the wording and vocabulary to become part of their lexicon this year so that we could build this Daily 5 work time together.

3. Lots of Positive Reinforcement
Along with using the D5 names, I would use the Clip Chart to have kids clip up for showing great effort during Word Work time, or great Independence during Read to Self time. Remember the assets that were listed on the top of each D5 Anchor Chart? That is what I was looking to positively reinforce around the class during these sessions, and it worked out great!

4. D5 Session Cards
I know that the 2 Sisters want kids to be able to choose what center they will work on for that day or session, but at first, I needed to have a bit more structure and give the kids more direction until we were comfortable with each choice. I therefore used the ah-ma-zing D5 signs from Kindertastic to create large bookmarks for my kids.

And here is how mine turned out:

There are 8 copies of 4 different rotations, so that way the most students at any center would only be 8 or less. This was especially important for Listen to Reading, since our resources for that center are the most limited. If you are interested in the Daily 5 Bucket Cover, I have uploaded it to Google Docs HERE for you to use!

5.Incorporate the Bookmarks, Teacher Time, and Sessions
Once we had our bucket full of D5 bookmarks and my students were able to maintain enough stamina to work independently, I could incorporate Teacher Time (Guided Reading/Lit Circle Time) into our schedule and get Daily 5 completely off of the ground!

Here's how a typical week works:
3 sessions each day

Monday:
Session 1- everyone is working on the first picture on their bookmark
Session 2- I meet with one small group, my literacy teacher meets with another small group, all of the other kids are working on Picture #2
Session 3- I meet with the other small group, my literacy teacher meets with her other small group, the kids who were just in Teacher Time now work on Picture #2

Tuesday:
Session 1- everyone is working on the 3rd picture on their bookmark
Session 2- I meet with one small group, my literacy teacher meets with another small group, all of the other kids are working on Picture #4
Session 3- I meet with the other small group, my literacy teacher meets with her other small group, the kids who were just in Teacher Time now work on Picture #4
At the end of D5 time on Tuesday, I collect the bookmarks

Wednesday:
Before we get started, kids choose a new bookmark
Session 1- everyone is working on the first picture on their bookmark
Session 2- I meet with one small group, my literacy teacher meets with another small group, all of the other kids are working on Picture #2
Session 3- I meet with the other small group, my literacy teacher meets with her other small group, the kids who were just in Teacher Time now work on Picture #2

Thursday:  
Session 1- everyone is working on the 3rd picture on their bookmark
Session 2- I meet with one small group, my literacy teacher meets with another small group, all of the other kids are working on Picture #4
Session 3- I meet with the other small group, my literacy teacher meets with her other small group, the kids who were just in Teacher Time now work on Picture #4
At the end of D5 time on Thursday, I collect the bookmarks & D5 Packets (coming soon in the D5 Series)
Here is how kids know what session they are in Teacher Time and who they are meeting with:

I used small name labels on cardstock, then put a magnet on back- love these since they are so easy to move around and change! The colors were kids' choices, they don't have a special meaning :)
 
It looks crazy, but it works out very, very well, I promise! I love that I am able to meet with my groups for 25 minutes every day- it has made my teaching so much better because the time is shorter, so we maximize it! This also allows us to get through the other 4 choices twice every week, which I think is pretty good!

Also, my students seem to love it since it breaks up the time with a teacher so they can be independent for 2/3 of the time, which they love.

While I would love the idea of kids picking and choosing where they want to go and what they want to work on, I haven't yet found a system that was as easy and quick as this one. I may experiment with some of the ideas I've seen floating around Pinterest. Do you have a quick & easy system for kids to choose their own? I still want them to get to both as the week progresses, not just hang out on the iPod all day, every day- there may be some problems if that happens :)