45. The Daily 5 - Gail Boushey and Joan Moser

2006 Steinhouse Publishers (I love everything this company publishes)

136 pgs.

Written for teachers/educators

NonFiction Educational

Goodreads Rating: 4.32

My Rating: 4/A great read to get me thinking about school again

My new principal/head of school gave this to me to read - he thought it was up my alley (it was....)

My comments:  I loved reading this book in its entirety...I've skimmed it and read about it previously.  It reinforces the way I think about teaching reading, especially in the intermediate grades, and gave me quite a few new ideas to try.  I'm feeling my own personal “Daily Five”  morphing into Reading Daily Three and Writing Daily Three because I will most probably have two separate periods for reading and writing.  This will still work really well for me.  I love trying out something new that entirely encompasses my beliefs and practices. 

Goodreads Summary:  Do you love teaching but feel exhausted from the energy you expend cajoling, disciplining, and directing students on a daily basis? If so, you'll want to meet “The Sisters”, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. Based on literacy learning and motivation research, they created a structure called The Daily Five which has been practiced and refined in their own classrooms for ten years, and shared with thousands of teachers throughout the United States. The Daily Five is a series of literacy tasks (reading to self, reading with someone, writing, word work, and listening to reading) which students complete daily while the teacher meets with small groups or confers with individuals.
       This book not only explains the philosophy behind the structure, but shows you how to carefully and systematically train your students to participate in each of the five components.
       Explicit modeling practice, reflecting and refining take place during the launching phase, preparing the foundation for a year of meaningful content instruction tailored to meet the needs of each child.
       The Daily Five is more than a management system or a curriculum framework; it is a structure that will help students develop the habits that lead to a lifetime of independent literacy