Hello friends!
I can
not believe we are already in May with 22 days left of school...NOT that I'm counting ;). The clock was on fast forward the whole year. I still can't seem to catch my breathe...whoa.
I have been doing Daily 5 for a couple of years now and have found that it truly addresses the whole child. It helps my students be independent and cooperative at the same time. It helps them become more responsible for their own work. It allows them to learn in an environment of self-discovery. When I look around my room, I see students actively engaged in meaningful learning. Above all, it allows me to pull students either 1:1 or in small groups to provide targeted instruction.
I'll be honest. I was
ter.ri.fied of even getting started with my kinders after being gone from the grade for a couple of years due to looping with my previous class. I
knew all the reasons why it works, but I found myself wondering where
to even begin the journey. Most of my kiddos couldn't write their names, some knew few, if any
letters or sounds to start the school year, and most struggled with fine
motor skills. I simply realized that it would be a very
slow process and that it was okay if it was. I took things very slowly
and let my kiddos be my guide of how much they could handle and when. We did chug along (AND I DO MEAN SLOWLY) in our Daily 5 block of time.
It all seemed to come together sometime early April to what I consider an ideal situation. For the most part, my kiddos worked independently, but I still had to proctor the room between small groups to put out small fires or redirect my littles. Now my kiddos can function with very little supervision or redirection.
I purchase many of the resources I use for word work from some amazing TpT sellers. When I can't find what I need, I just make my own. I thought I would share some of the jobs (I don't call them games) my kiddos do during this time.
This is our pocket chart for Daily 5.
Word Work
This Race to the Top game is combination reading and writing. This was back in December. They only had to mark an x in the box after they read the word correctly. Since January, they are required to write the word in the box. This a favorite one for sure! You may get a FREE copy of the forms I use each month by clicking here or the picture below.
Read to Self/Partner Read
By Karen Jones
(Fluency Work for Emergent Readers)
Listen to Reading
Work on Writing
By A Teachable Teacher By Tara West
I know you hear it all the time, BUT this is definitely my kiddos
favorite!! Well, what is it? It's Write the Room. I have two clipboards
with a pencil attached (never gets lost) to them. Two students at a time
can walk the room to find the read and write the words. They get to
wear the theme glasses for the month and they just think they are all
that and more. My kinders have gotten so good at using these words in
their writing and have been able to pick up on patterns such as long
vowels, ar, and -y at the end of words. It is amazing what I have
witnessed in the last couple of months. I will be posting on their
writing growth in another post. This job also does wonders for those
kiddos that simply need to move a little more.
Some of the glasses they have been able to use.
The form is from my Write the Room May edition. This is a sample of the form we are using this month.
I do have a Write the Room for every month available. The bundle right now is over 50%.
That's only $2.50 per month.
I really hope this has been helpful. Let me know what works for you.
