Daily 5 Chapter 3

Here are my thoughts on Daily 5 Chapter 3.

1. Establish a gathering place for brain and body breaks

The meeting area is such an important part of the classroom. It’s so important to make it an integral part of the classroom.  I had my carpet area at the back of my room, but this year I am thinking of placing it in front of the smart board in the center of the room.  I love the idea of calling my carpet area something. I am doing a Dr. Seuss theme this year- I bet if I thought hard enough I could come up with a Seuss setting that I could call our carpet…Hmmm- any ideas?

2. Developing the concept of "good fit" books

I loved her lesson using the shoes to teach about good fit books. 

I think I might do some other lessons prior to this one- save this one for a little later after we’ve learned about ways to treat a book, some classroom library procedures, and ways to read a book.  This is where I feel like the Daily 5 is harder to implement in Kindergarten.  All the examples she gave of selecting books really felt more upper grades to me.  I would love to hear from them a sample lesson on a good fit book in a kinder classroom.  Maybe reading everyone else’s posts will help me with this…

3. Create anchor charts with students How will these be visual in the room? Where will you store them? What about small spaces?

I love anchor charts!  We use them all the time, but I am guilty of sometimes creating the chart myself ahead of time.  Especially at the beginning of the year when their attention spans are SOOOO short, it’s hard to get the conversation where I want it to be and anchor chart made together before I feel like I’ve lost them.  But I definitely see the benefit of creating the charts together and I will work on that.  I am so lucky to have 2 clotheslines up high in my classroom that stretch from one side of the classroom to the other side (thanks to my teammate’s husband J).  I see some of my anchor chart going there at the beginning of the year and then finding more permanent places in the classroom library or in other work spaces around the room.

4. Short, repeated intervals of independent practice and setting up book boxes

Stamina- I think the stamina part won’t be a problem in my classroom.  I know that this is something I can easily make happen in the classroom.  But I liked the Sisters suggestions and will try out some of their techniques for sure. 

Book Boxes- This is not my first time reading this book.  I keep coming back to it every couple of years. And one of the things that always prevents me from implementing it are the book boxes!  My first thought is “Where on earth am I going to store 28 book boxes??????”  I think and think about my classroom and think about creative storage options and I always get hung up on it.  So again, I look forward to reading everyone’s posts about the organization of the book boxes.  For what to put in the book boxes at the beginning of the year, I am not really sure I have enough books that are “good fit” for them at the beginning of the year.  I have lots of guided reading books at the lowest levels, but I don’t know if I want to use those for book boxes at the start.  This was another one of my stumbling blocks for implementing Daily 5.  I definitely have lots to think about.

5. Calm Signals and check in procedures

I have a few calm/attention getting signals in the classroom.  I have jingle bells that get students attention.  I also have some spoken signals.  I say “One fish, two fish” and the students respond “Red fish, blue fish” and I teach them that after they respond, I need eyes watching, ears listening and hands still.

6. Using the correct model/incorrect model approach for demonstrating appropriate behaviors.

At the beginning of the school year I always use the correct model/incorrect model approach to teach lots of different procedures.  It works really well for teaching all kinds of procedures and routines those first few weeks of school.  And the kiddos love it!

I enjoyed Chapter 3 and can’t wait to read all of your responses. I hope reading all your ideas will help me figure out how to overcome some of the misgivings I have about implementing the program. Check in at Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten to see other links.  Can't wait to read more!

http://livelovelaughkindergarten.blogspot.com/2012/06/kd5-ch3-linky-party.html