Then the green beans came in...yep, I live in the deep South where green beans "come in" and girl, do they evah! We (my hubby, my parents, my son, and a friend or two along the way) have been hard and fast at the green bean vines. We only have two rows. Yes, they are about half the length of a football field. We picked the vines "clean" last night...or so we thought! More friends dropped by today and two little sweeties wanted to pick green beans. Can you believe there were MORE green beans already? Since last night around 9:00, folks. I have never in my life seen the green beans grow so! Well, I shouldn't be surprised...I did pray for green beans. So...what do GREEN BEANS have to do with The Daily Five? I'm glad you asked!
My dear sweet teamie, Brenda, retired in May. She gave me loads and loads of teacher stuff. I'm talking about top of the line, quality teacher materials. So, her only request was that I call her and sell her some veggies from our garden. She lives less than 2 miles from me, so of course I take her some green beans (the first of our garden veggies to produce well so far). She insists that she will pay for them and I point-blank refuse! She meets me in the yard (I'm in my garden grungies...not gonna get outta the car, for crying out loud!)...with three books! Well, did you guess already? Yep, you did...one is The Daily Five. Brand new, friends...never opened from the looks of it. Did I say I'm excited!?! Oh yeah! So now I'm playing catch up on the blog hop.
I've read chapter 01 and if this blog weren't going to make me slow down and chew, I think I'd swallow this book WHOLE! That's how excited I am! I think you're getting the idea, right? ;) So, I'm joining the Blog Hop. Chapter 1 Linky can be found at Seusstastical Classroom Inspirations with Mel D.
So here are my responses...
1. On pages 4-6, the authors present two different pictures of their classrooms. In thinking about and reflecting on your own practice, how would you characterize your literary block? Does it look more like the first or second scenario, or is it somewhere in between? How will you change it? My literacy block falls between the two ends of the spectrum. I tweaked it a bit last year after learning of the Daily Five, but not having the text in front of me held me back. I read The Book Whisperer last year and tried to incorporate her ideas...as much as they would fit into a second grade classroom. I cannot WAIT to truly implement the Daily Five this year. It really struck me that the first 20 days of school are absolutely necessary for establishing routines. This year, I will practice routines that I see not in place rather than being discouraged. (c:
2. The typical teacher is very busy having students do lots of different activities. How is what you are having students do now in your classroom creating quality readers and writers? I really sunk into the Read to Self and Buddy Reading aspects of Daily 5 last year. I neglected the other three and my students' achievement was not as high as I'd hoped. I am sooo thrilled to have this opportunity to hone my understanding and hence, tweak my implementation of the Daily Five. Let's get ready to ROCK! :D
3. What sets the Daily 5 structure apart from what you are doing in your classroom? Oh my! Having the students truly understand expectations and follow that understanding by following through with their own independent work (thus allowing me time for small group instruction and individual conferences) makes all of Daily 5 an absolute MUST for 2012-2013!
I am sooo excited!
†~Melly~†
Oh good, someone else who got caught up in the beginnings of summer! I read this book a couple of months ago and just started using some of the ideas in my classroom this past May. This fall will be the first year I actually start with it from Day one. My team are old hat to Daily 5, so I feel like a total newbie. They already have our first month planned out with what part to teach when, so I feel pretty golden there. Just a bit afraid, you know? My stations this last year had the read to self/buddy read, and write by yourself/buddy write, retelling, computer, and listening. No word work. And I really need to implement that this year because I could tell it was a difficulty for my kids during testing. I don't want to give up my retelling station.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the management piece to it though. Started in May with the expectation charts and free choice and it reduced so many behavior problems. Reading became a dream. I never had them tell me what they were choosing though or make a chart or anything. We just did it. Not sure if I'll do that or not next year. We'll see I guess.
http://themeekmoose.blogspot.com
What grade do you teach? I teach second and would ♥love, ♥love, ♥love to see what your team has planned already! Thanks for commenting!
DeleteMelly
I am also second. I think I have it scrunched in with all the things I brought home this summer to work on, and I will go spelunking for it. Hopefully I won't be swallowed whole.
DeleteI spent my childhood snapping beans! We had crooked neck squash before the end of May this year.
ReplyDeleteI am a member of a yahoo group about the daily 5 I joined two years ago. They have a ton of downloadable docs. They are quiet in the summer and talky durring the school year. Would be a great support for yall wanting to look at others plans ect..
I teach second grade and I just read The Book Whisper this summer. It was okay. I did find some ideas in her book that I thought I could apply to my classroom this next year.
ReplyDeleteDAILY 5 ~ You will LOVE the D5. I implemented it last year in my classroom and I fell in love with it and so did my students. I was so impressed on how independent they did become and how successful they felt. I am so ready to blog about the other chapters. Reading one chapter a week is sooooo not me. I keep reading the chapter over and over and over hoping that I didn't miss anything.
Mrs. Flickinger’s Butterfly Oasis
Thanks, Tammy! I am extremely excited about implementing D5 this year! :)
Delete