I'm Lovin' Daily 5 on the Fifth!! {A Monthly Linky Party with a Giveaway and Freebies!}

I have been talking with some of my firstie friends about using the wonderful Daily 5 (created by the 2 Sisters) in our classrooms. I have a confession: I LOVE using Daily 5 in first grade! This however was not the feeling that I had when I was first handed the book during my first year of teaching. My first initial feeling was a mix of excitement with sheer overwhelmingness! New things do that to us, don't they? Well at least they do it to me! :) I had so many questions about how to implement it into my classroom. Would it work in first grade when they weren't as independent? Could a first grader actually read for 15-20 minutes without stopping? Could I implement Daily 5 while still needing to use a regular reading program too? How do you organize it? Will I have enough supplies?

I think you get the picture! :) After three years of using Daily 5 in first grade, I can say that that not only do I love it, but my kids also LOVE Daily 5 as much as I do! It is not unusual to hear the question: "Is it Daily 5 time yet?" multiple times during the day from my firsties!

I can also say that while I have learned a lot over the last three years of implementing Daily 5, I still have lots to learn! I am by no means an expert (I'll leave that up to the fabulous Sisters!!) But I do know that Daily 5 can be used in many ways and that each of us can always grow and refine our teaching practices! So what better way than to learn and grow than by doing it together!? So, after talking with some of my blogging buddies, I decided to begin a Monthly Linky Party (I love a good linky party, don't you!?) called:

On the fifth of each month, I will be hosting this little party to share what you love about using Daily 5 in your classroom! I thought it would make a good monthly linky, so that we can see how it looks being used throughout the year in many different classroom settings (trust me it looks WAY different at the beginning of first grade than it does at the end of first grade!)

Since I will be sharing how I do Daily 5 on the fifth of each month, I'm not going to cover everything today. So be sure to check back! But I am going to share FIVE things I have learned about starting Daily 5!

FIRST: do not go past go, do not collect $200--do not do anything related to Daily 5 without buying and reading the Daily 5 book:

Click HERE or on the cover to get the book!

Trust me, the 2 Sisters are WONDERFUL (who doesn't love someone that tells you to "work smarter not harder" these girls are kindred spirits I tell you!) and this book is easy to read and to use! I go back to my book MANY times throughout the year (and especially at the beginning of the year) as a reference!

I LOVE this book so much that I am going to give away a copy of it to one lucky winner!

Just enter below! If you win it, it will be mailed right to your doorstep (due to shipping costs and requirements, I can only mail to U.S. residents)! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SECOND: Anchor charts are the bomb-diggity!! And I LOVE that the Daily 5 uses them to set up the expectations and routines for our students. You make them with the students and then put them up in your room to refer back to them regularly. The book (remember don't pass go, don't collect $200... :) will explain to you how to teach the anchor charts and give examples of finished ones (so appreciated having that as a model!). I enjoy making anchor charts, but gosh golly it can zap a lot of time to make them from scratch every time. I like having digital copies of anchor charts so that I can just print and go each year. So while I could have created them myself, I was thrilled when I found these Daily 5 anchor charts from Mrs. Jones' Creation Station on TPT:

Source: Mrs. Jones' Creation Station

Click HERE or on the picture above to grab your Daily 5 anchor charts from Mrs. Jones' Creation Station! What was that about "working smarter not harder!" Thank you Mrs. Jones for helping me do that!!

THIRD: If you take the time at the beginning of the year to really set the structure and routine of Daily 5, it will PAY off BIG TIME later!! At the beginning of first grade it feels like you are NEVER going to be able to build enough stamina to read for 20 minutes without a break. But TRUST ME-if you take the time to model it, practice it, and implement it like the book says, IT WORKS! I'm always amazed e.v.e.r.y year! Now let's just be honest here--it takes first graders almost a month to just get down Read to Self, but it is worth it to take the time for them to get it down!! I don't introduce another component of Daily 5 until we have mastered Read to Self! I also highly recommend keeping a stamina graph to chart your progress each day (and remember you need to be practicing your stamina every day!!) My kids are always all.kinds.of.excited to find out how long they read for each day so that we can mark it on the stamina chart! Again, to go along with the sisters "work smarter not harder" I decided not to reinvent the wheel and instead of making a stamina graph I found and use this one from Ashley Magee on TPT:

Source: Ashley Magee

Click HERE or on the picture above to grab your stamina charts from Ashley Magee! She has ones for each of the components of the Daily 5 in her pack!!

FOURTH: I LOVE the analogy the 2 sisters have us use to teach kids about good fit books and I LOVE teaching it at the beginning of every year! 

Source: First Grade in Foxwell Forest

If you would like a copy of this poster to hang in your classroom, just click HERE or on the picture to grab it! (Clipart from KPM Doodles and Teaching in a Small Town)

I made this to hang up in my room because I LOVE referring back to this throughout the year! It is such a powerful illustration of the importance of students reading good fit books that are on their reading level! At the beginning of every year I bring in a pair of my hubby's shoes (size men's 13--you all they're HUGE on my woman's size 9 feet!) and I ask what would happen if I decided I liked Mr. Foxwell's shoes better than my own and wanted to wear them instead of my own! Even though they tell me it won't work I proceed to put them on (hamming it up of course--should have been an actress I tell ya!) and try walking around while I assure my students that I KNOW they will fit and work because I want them too. Well you can just imagine my firsties at this point! Hilarious! Ok-so Mr. Foxwell's shoes are too big? So I look around the room at my student's shoes and spot a pair I like. I tell my students that since Mr. Foxwell's shoes are TOO big then a smaller size should do. So I have one of my students trade me their shoes. Of course I can't even get my big toe into a first grade shoe so I act all discouraged and tell them I don't know what shoes to wear...they are all screaming "YOURS--you need to wear yours!" I ask them: why I should wear my shoe and they tell me it's because they fit me! LIGHTBULB! (insert Despicable Me voice!) I go on to say something like, "So you're telling me that I should wear MY shoes because they are a good fit for ME!" (kids shout out YES!) I go on then to make the connection between good fit books and shoes (I'm telling you-your kids will be on the edge of their seats: totally HOOKED at this point!) I explain that just like we all have shoes that fit us best, that books are the same way and that everyone is different! I even tie in how someone's shoe size doesn't make them better or less than others and that good fit books are that way too!

Isn't this GOOD STUFF! I'm telling you-I LOOOVE me some Daily 5!

This powerful mini-lesson sets the stage for having students be able to pick books out of your classroom library that fits them best and it will also be a lesson that you refer back to many times throughout the year! It kinda *sticks* with your kids (and the more you can ham it up the better!)

FIFTH: There are so many great resources, in addition to the book, that can help you implement the Daily 5!! And one of the best parts is that everything that is teacher created is FREE! Due to copyright terms anything that we create to use and share in our classrooms cannot be sold. However, the 2 Sisters have graciously allowed us to share them as freebies! (I told you they were kindred spirits!! :) So just be sure to include something like this on any Daily 5 materials you create and share: "
The Daily 5 and CAFE are trademark and copy written content of Educational Design, LLC. The 2 Sisters. Educational Design, LLC. The 2 Sisters does not authorize or endorse these materials."

Also, some of my bloggy friends and I have just started up a "I'm Lovin' Daily 5!" Pinterest Board! 

This will be a great place to find resources and ideas for using Daily 5 in your classroom! Click HERE or on the picture above to follow our Daily 5 Pinterest Board!

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I have so much more to share (like word work organization, the power of choice, and how to fit Daily 5 into your schedule) but it will have to wait until another installment of Daily 5 on September 5th!! I'm planning on having this monthly linky party run all school year for us to share and grow together! If you have any questions or topics that you would like me to address in the coming months, just let me know! 

So, let's get this party started!! Do you use or are starting to use Daily 5? Join the linky by grabbing the button and linking 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!)

*The Daily 5 and CAFE are trademark and copy written content of Educational Design, LLC. The 2 Sisters. Educational Design, LLC. The 2 Sisters does not authorize or endorse the materials or content mentioned on this blog or in this linky party.

An InLinkz Link-up