Kindergarten Chaos to Calm

I started using Daily 5 many years ago when I was teaching Kindergarten. At that time my principal had scheduled for each of us to have an uninterrupted, 90 minute reading block. All I could think was, “Can Kindergarten students do anything with focus and intent for 90 minutes?” It just didn’t seem possible. So I plugged through each day and my students did the best they could, but they just weren’t making the gains they needed to make. I felt like a failure.

I started reading professional books and looking for conferences to attend that could help with the structure of my reading block and my instruction. I attended a conference that spring all about making the most of your literacy time and the presenter shared the Daily 5 book. Following the conference I went straight to the bookstore to purchase it, finished reading it within a few days, shared it with a colleague, and we started it the following Monday.

Here’s what I learned:

• Kindergarten students CAN do it, they just need explicit instruction, guidance, and time to practice.
• Kindergarten students WANT to do it. As time went on, they loved Daily 5 and it showed. Even the last day of school they wanted time for Daily 5.
• Kindergarten students WILL be successful. There is so much truth to the self-fulfilling prophecy.  If we believe students can do it and trust them, they will rise to our expectations.

I will never forget the first time I heard the quiet hum of my students fully engaged in reading and writing. It was like a dream. And, it continued day after day after day. Of course we occasionally had to pull out the I-chart and revisit the 10 steps, but that is to be expected in any class, I mean they are human!

Using Daily 5, I saw growth in every student! Not only in their reading ability, but also in their independence and engagement with text.

This is Allison's story, what is yours? We want to hear it!