Core Proposition 1: Teachers are Committed to Students and Their Learning

Daily 5 Connection: Commitment to Students and Their Learning

Educators around the world are dedicated to helping students develop literacy. With high expectations for all students, many turn to the management system of Daily 5 so they can share their expertise with learners in a stimulating environment free from interruptions and distractions. Convinced all students can learn, they embark on the critical mission of helping all students become capable readers and writers.

Through Daily 5, teachers establish parameters for their classroom learning community. Their work is focused on developing student independence, which enables them, in turn, to deliver high-quality instruction. With Daily 5 as a guide, teachers help students develop stamina and a sense of self-efficacy. When training students in Daily 5, teachers convey the urgency of student work; once students are trained in instructional routines, they do not interrupt the all-important work of the teacher. Whenever a child experiences difficulty with developing Daily 5 target behaviors, the teacher can turn to proven methods that equip the child to meet expectations (Boushey & Moser, 2014).

Daily 5 Connection: Respect for Learning Differences

In their classroom routines, teachers who embrace Daily 5 apply their knowledge that each student is unique. They recognize that some children, termed barometer students by The Sisters, need additional support (Boushey & Moser, 2014). Their needs may affect the classroom climate, but resourceful, committed teachers are more than ready to handle any student-generated tsunamis that may affect the weather in the room. As wise observers of learning behaviors, teachers realize that barometer children struggle with self-regulation and require some in-class modifications; however, ultimately they are able to offer those students effective tools (such as personal and private “office spaces,” kinesthetic materials and manipulatives, stop watches, sand timers, and carpet squares) to be successful (Boushey & Moser, 2014). 

Daily 5 Connection: Understanding of the Learning Process

At the core of the Daily 5 structure is the recognition that mastery requires commitment, time, and practice. When training students, teachers follow a simple yet effective procedure. Teachers who use Daily 5 take responsibility for training students in Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, and Word Work. For each of these tasks, they record desired behaviors on the I-chart, a visual anchor in which the I stands for "independence". Next, they identify what they will teach. Then they set a purpose and create a sense of urgency among learners (Boushey & Moser, 2014).

Target behaviors listed on the anchor chart should be conveyed in positive terms, since children often remember the last words they hear. For example, “Stay in one spot” yields better results than “Don’t walk around,” since a student may hear or recall only the last two words and decide to roam the classroom (Boushey & Moser, 2014). To reinforce the desired behavior, teachers invite a student to model the target behavior correctly, followed by another child (usually someone apt to struggle with the target behavior) who displays the opposite behavior and immediately afterward demonstrates the positive behavior.  This type of kinesthetic engagement ingrains the target behavior in the learner’s muscle memory. “This step provides students the opportunity for their muscles to begin learning the correct actions of the behaviors, leading to a new normal for their muscle memory” (p. 42).  By studying the research base of Daily 5, teachers come to understand students’ needs for instructional routines that are attuned to the ways that children learn best.

Daily 5 Connection: Appreciation of Students’ Families and Cultural Differences

Practitioners of Daily 5 know that each child is an individual; every single one brings a different set of experiences to the classroom community. The theme of respect that resonates through each aspect of Daily 5 takes into account children’s unique backgrounds, but also celebrates what they share: the ability to learn and grow. In the course of the school day, teachers can feature multicultural literature that highlights the wonderful contributions of groups from students’ diverse backgrounds. By sharing information about Daily 5 via parent notes, classroom newsletters, and literacy-night activities, they can keep families informed about their children’s progress in getting started right away, staying in one spot, increasing stamina, working quietly, and selecting and reading good-fit books—the very same behaviors that support reading listed at the bottom of the CAFE Menu (Boushey & Moser, 2009).  These types of communications convey to families that they are valued and respected as partners in their children’s learning.

Daily 5 Connection: Emphasis on Building Self-Confidence and Community

Teachers who use Daily 5 want students to develop as both readers and writers. At the heart of their work is the conviction that what each child does is important. After all, each teacher and each student share the mission of making the classroom a positive place to learn and flourish. As they implement Daily 5, teachers show their concern for students’ engagement and self-esteem by offering choice, which empowers them. Students who can choose the sequence of their rounds, the books they read, the topics they write about, and even the spaces where they work are more motivated and engrossed in the process because they take charge of their own learning.

Throughout the training process, educators call attention to these important precepts woven through Daily 5: each reader has the right to enjoy his or her own “good-fit books” regardless of their level; each classroom member has the responsibility to contribute to the community’s stamina building every single day; each child has the obligation to accept an invitation to be a reading partner with grace and respect; each child must choose a reading place that promotes productivity; each student has the duty of making the classroom a place where the teacher can teach and classmates can learn; each student has different learning needs and should be respected; each student should follow the behaviors exhibited on the I-chart for each round; and finally, each student must honor the urgency of learning and use time conscientiously.

Once children have achieved independence and stamina, the teacher routinely polls students to find out about their choices during Daily 5. Preceding each of the dailies, these check-ins give children the chance to declare their choices publicly. During check-in, the teacher records each student’s choice for the round and reinforces the learner’s perception that his or her work is meaningful.