I can’t stress enough about the value of getting and reading the Daily 5 book:
1. Read the Pictures
2. Read the Words
Before I show them the first way to read a book, I ask for a volunteer to come up and help me read a book. For this part, I purposely try and pick one of my lower/struggling readers, because I want to show them that they can read a book!! Sidenote-at the beginning of the year try to gather as much info and data as you can on your kiddos. Talk to the Kindergarten teachers, see what data the school already has on them. I was able to know what reading levels my kiddos left Kindergarten at thanks to the data my school keeps and makes accessible to teachers!
When I pick my volunteer, they almost always say, “But I can’t read.” I assure them they can! Insert teacher smile here! 🙂 My plan is working!
I like to use this wordless book:
Click HERE or on the picture to check out the book!
As the student READS the pictures, his/her confidence is beginning to bud with each turned page! I also like using this book because it is just one in a series and I love any chance I can get to introduce my kiddos to a great series. My boys especially were SO excited when I showed them the other books in the series and they are eating these wordless books up during Read to Self! Insert another teacher smile here!
Right after we read the pictures, I pull out one of my most FAVORITE read alouds for the beginning of the year. It is the PERFECT book for teaching students the 3 ways to read a book! I just feel like it needs a drum roll please…..
Click HERE or on the picture to check out the book!
First of all, Jon Scieska is a hilarious author (who doesn’t love his Math Curse, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales?!?) and I first fell in love with David Shannon with his No, David! series and his pictures in Pirates Don’t Change Diapers! Before I get lost on the “other read alouds I’m passionate about” bunny trail, I’m just going to end by telling you that this dynamic duo will not disappoint you with their amazing book, Robot Zot!!
I model how to read the pictures and the words by reading Robot Zot with the class. You can’t read this book without using them both! It’s amazing! And using a robot voice to read is of course a must and having the students chime in for the “Robot Zot-never fall! Robot Zot-conquers all!” is also a must! 🙂 (P.S. I really love books, can you tell!?)
The kids love this book SO much that each year they BEG to read it again! Even my one little boy that claimed he hated books on the first day (insert teacher tear…) was on the edge of his criss-cross applesauce as we read it and he too was BEGGING for me to read it again (insert teacher smile here…)! You can’t go wrong with this book!
On the second day, I pull this book out again to review the first 2 ways to read a book and then introduce the third way to read a book:
3. Retell the Story
Robot Zot works amazingly to model the 3 ways to read a book!
3. Picking Good Spots
After the students know the 3 ways to read a book we dive into why readers read, discuss stamina, and start our T-chart for Read to Self!
Oh and I changed the T-Charts I’m using this year…I have this weakness for Melonheadz clipart. So when I found these Daily 5 Anchor Charts by Creekside Teacher Tales, I just had no self control. Before I knew what was happening, I was hitting print! 🙂 Aren’t they so CUTE!
Source: Creekside Teacher Tales |
Click HERE or on the picture to grab these Daily 5 Anchor Charts!
When we are first building our stamina for Read to Self, I always start by assigning my students their reading spots. I want to show and model to them some good spots to pick in our room. Each day we build our stamina, I assign students to different spots. I try not to put them in the same spot twice. When I feel like students are doing well at building stamina and staying in their spots, I will then teach them how to pick a good spot-I even use a separate piece of paper to make an anchor chart on some good rules for picking spots. One of the most important rules being that students need to be an “Arms Length Away”! When students do pick a spot they have to put their arms out and make sure they can’t touch another friend. I have a smaller classroom so when all of my firsties are doing read to self it can be tough to find a spot, so this rule is invaluable!
I will also say that when my firsties are picking their own spots, this is treated as a privilege. If a student is having a hard time staying in their spot, I tend to give them a warning first. Then the next time, they lose their privilege of picking for that day and I assign it to them. If there’s a third time, they tend to lose the privilege of picking for a couple of days and have to sit in an assigned spot. Trust me, students LOVE picking their own spots, so you usually only need to do this once and they will work very hard to not lose their privilege again!
Also, when picking spots I like to have some carpets and pillows that students can pick up and take to their spots:
4. Good Fit Books
In order to do Read to Self, students need to have good fit books. Before teaching students to pick good fit books, I love teaching them the shoe lesson from the Daily 5 book (explained in last month’s post HERE)
Source: First Grade in Foxwell Forest |
5. Reading Book Bags
In order to do Read to Self your students will need a place to store their good fit books. I used boxes my first year and have to say…I hated them. They fell apart and it was hard to find storage space for them. So for the past couple of years I have been using reusable shopping bags that go on each student’s chair:
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this system! I actually have my students bring in their own bags! I did this because after supplying them the first time around, I found that students take better care of bags that they bring in. If it rips, I just send a note home asking their parents to send in another one. It works so well!
How do you do start and organize Read to Self in your room? How is your Daily 5 going? I’d love to hear about it and have you join in this month’s linky party!! Just grab the button and link up your post on why you love/and or how you use Daily 5 in your classroom! I can’t wait to read them and learn and grow together! (Please remember that anything that you create for Daily 5 cannot be sold, but can be shared as freebies!)
*This post contains some Amazon affiliate links. This means that when you purchase something through these links, Amazon sends me a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. This helps keep my corner of cyber-space running and also helps fund resources for my students!
allison krinn says
Awesome ideas! I love the daily 5. After 4 weeks, we are just starting to get settled into stations. It is a lot of work, but so worth it.
Another GREAT POST! You are such a wonderful teacher! I just LOVE that we are both using the anchor charts from Creekside Teacher Tales! They are so awesome and I love the Melonheadz clipart too!
HUGS to you!
Julie
Ms. Marciniak's First Grade Critter Cafe
So glad I found your blog through Pinterest! I love the idea of this linky and can't wait to get started on my post so I can link up. 🙂
I also love Mercer Mayer, but hadn't yet used one of his wordless books for modeling. It looks like I'll have to check out Robot-sounds great! Thanks for hosting!
🙂
Karli
Creating a Thoughtful Classroom
This is a great post. Love the ideas. I am having a horrible time getting everything working as far as the schedule. It is me and 20 little firsties with no assistant in a small room in the library so I am working with a challenge. I am also having to test them all and so I feel bad for them as it is nothing but busy work but it will all work out. Some of these ideas give me more inspiration to keep it going everyday and get it going well. Thanks so much.
THIS IS AWESOME!! I am so excited about this linky. This will be my second year trying the Daily 5 and my first time starting it at the beginning of the year. Your tips are fabulous. I can't wait to read more!
Thanks so much!
Becky
Compassionate Teacher
Such great information!! I'm going to have to look into those books for next year. And I LOVE your "books are like shoes" poster 🙂 Thanks for hosting this link up!