Daily 5: Launching Read to Self

Well, it's halfway through the first full week of school and I am trying to get as many routines and procedures up and running as I can, while also remembering to take it slow and ensure that we are building our stamina.

In past years, I have definitely rushed through so many of these steps trying to get to the next thing and I end up paying the price for it later. Practicing the slow-and-steady approach that's laid out in The Daily 5 has really helped me across the board, not just in reading!

We launched The Daily 5 this week and have talked solely about Read to Self. I wanted to let you in on some of our initial minilessons. If you're like me, the visual piece is HUGE when learning about or tweaking a new idea, so I hope these help!

First up, our anchor chart (I-Chart) for Read to Self:

I always add in a character asset that I want them to practice during that time- for Read to Self, it is "Responsibility" since kids certainly have the temptation to goof off or doze off instead of read :)

I also added in the last bullet point in "Teachers are:" because I wanted kids to know that I will not be interrupting their reading. This was an "aha!" (or "oops!") moment for me when I was rereading the book this summer because I am definitely guilty of wandering around and giving quiet praise to the kids who are doing what they are supposed to be doing. I wanted them to instead be building their responsibility without my constant doting, so I included this reminder for them, but mostly for me ;)

We first talked about I-PICK as well as the "Five Finger Rule". I got these lovely signs from The Teacher Wife and attached them with ribbon so they look sosososo pretty in our room :)

I introduced the "Five Finger Rule" when it came to the last letter- Knowing all of the words. We used some Whole Brain Teaching gesturing to go through the levels.

 

• When I read a book (hands open like a book), I open to any page and start to read.
• When I come to a tricky word (hands up on either side of your body and shrugging your shoulders), I put up a finger
• 0-1 fingers (hold up a fist, then the index finger) is too easy (brush our hands off to the side)
• 2-3 fingers (hold up 2, then 3 fingers) is Just Right (hold up two thumbs up)
• 4-5 fingers (hold up 4, then 5 fingers) is too tricky (hold up both hands in front of us like "stop" or "slow down")

We used this opportunity to practice Mirror & Teach-Okay and it went really well!

If you would like a copy of my "Five Finger Rule" sign, pick it up for free HERE.


We talked a lot about Just Right Books. I made an anchor chart and compared it to riding a bike- I'm in Colorado and that's the main form of transportation for adults and kids in this town :) I left the mouth expression off and as we talked about each level, I added it in with Sharpie based on the students' suggestions after we had defined what it felt like to ride a bike and compared that with reading. It was a great lesson and we had lots of fun with it!

One of my girls said that it feels like you get "sucked into your book and don't want to stop" (love it!), so it was a great intro to voracious reading- a CAFE strategy- and it may even be our Word of the Day tomorrow ;)

I hope this helped and that your Daily 5 launching is going smoothly and wonderfully :) We are up to about 7 minutes of stamina, so we're moving right along!

To see more of my Daily 5 posts, click HERE.