Dear Parents,
Welcome to a new school year! I know each year in your child’s schooling presents new expectations and routines for you and your child to become familiar with. My goal is to introduce classroom routines and structures in a way that removes all of the guesswork from the children and allows them to concentrate fully on learning. In reading, the classroom structure I use is called “Daily Five”. Soon your child will be talking about “The Daily Five” at home. The purpose of this letter is to explain to you what The Daily Five is and what you should expect to see at home.
The Daily Five is a literacy structure that teaches independence and gives children the skills needed to create a lifetime love of reading and writing. It consists of five tasks that are introduced individually. When introduced to each task, the children discuss what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to engage in the task independently. Then, the children work on building their stamina until they are successful at being independent while doing that task.
The five tasks include:
1. Read to self
2. Read to someone
3. Listen to reading
4. Work on writing
5. Word work
When all five tasks have been introduced and the children are fully engaged in reading and writing activities, I am able to work with small groups and confer with children one on one. This structure is effective, the results are amazing, and the children really look forward to Daily Five time. Ask your child about Daily Five and see what he/she has to say. I anticipate your child will tell you about the class stamina, how we are working towards independence, and maybe you will even hear about some of the fantastic things your child has written, read, or listened to during our structured reading time.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Thank you for your continued support!
Written by: Allison Behne ©www.thedailycafe.com
