Core Proposition 5: Teachers Are Members of Learning Communities

Daily 5 Connection: Colleagues Learning Together

Educators realize the importance of collaboration based on student learning.  The popularity of The Daily CAFE website with its Discussion Board attests to the fact that practitioners of Daily 5 and CAFE turn to their colleagues for solving problems and exchanging ideas. With the same goal of improving student learning in mind, large numbers of educators attend The Sisters’workshops, flock to hear them at professional conferences, and register for their online seminars and graduate-level courses. Although these teachers are from various backgrounds and have different teaching experiences, they share a love of learning and are always open to discovering innovative ways to reach their students. 

Daily 5 Connection: Leadership and Community Outreach

National Board Certified teachers often form productive partnerships with professional groups and businesses within their communities. Classroom teachers who use Daily 5 demonstrate this same partnering ability as they work with their own school libraries as well as with neighboring libraries and bookstores to locate first-rate reading materials for their students. They sometimes invite community members to act as guest readers or attend school literacy night activities. They may also ask local authors and illustrators to speak to students about their creative works.

Daily 5 Connection: Professional Outreach

Daily 5 is a vehicle that promotes discourse among staff members and administrators. The management system often becomes part of the school culture, which provides staff with a common language and rich student-centered conversation. Staff developers, such as literacy coaches, can brainstorm with grade-level groups or facilitate discussions about working with barometer children and building independence. Faculties at schools within the same district, or those from neighboring districts, can meet to share their Daily 5 success stories and challenges.

High expectations for student learning, focus on building stamina for reading and writing, belief in the benefits of wide reading, and emphasis on learner independence—all of these phrases describe Daily 5. They also apply to Common Core demands on 21st-century learners (National Governors Association Center, 2010). Daily 5 users can readily see how the framework enables educators to make the goals of the Common Core a reality for students.

Daily 5 Connection: Evaluating School Progress and Allocating Resources

Extended time periods devoted to reading and a wide array of appropriate reading materials contribute to the progress of a school and its ability to meet educational objectives. The structure of Daily 5 offers many opportunities for reading. By revisiting the strategy of I PICK Good-Fit books and frequently checking children’s book boxes, teachers can ensure a correct match between students’ reading abilities and their choice of texts. The ability of students to regulate their own behavior, achieved through Daily 5 training, promotes a classroom climate that is conducive to learning.

Another benefit of Daily 5 is its cost-effectiveness; the budget for preparing I-charts and gathering materials for the rotations is not substantial.  Monies saved from photocopying worksheets and replenishing centers can be put toward developing high-quality classroom libraries. Interested in helping their colleagues to develop their classroom libraries, experienced teachers with established libraries will often contribute books to new teachers.

Daily 5 Connection: Partnering with Parents

“Where would our school be without parental support?” is a question that often echoes through faculty lunchrooms. Practitioners of Daily 5 appreciate parent volunteers and know how to make good use of their willingness to help. They realize that not all parents can volunteer during the school day; however, they recognize that parental support for reading and writing both inside and outside the classroom is vital.  In the classroom, the teacher is the model of someone who loves learning; in the home environment, parents are the models of lifelong learning and encourage their children’s literacy development. Students can grow as self-reliant readers and writers—the exemplary learners their accomplished teachers and interested parents want them to be!