Daily 5 by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser Chapter 4

Chapter 4 ~ Read to Self

In reflecting on your students' work with these strategies, what can you celebrate at this point in the year?

At this stage for me, my students are familiar and can fluently:

• ·         Read and talk about the pictures.
• ·         Read the words.

However I have not witnessed them using the third strategy:

• ·         Retell a previously read book

I think this will be our focus for the next week or two, to build up and maintain using a variety of ‘Ways to Read a Book’. I also need to model retelling a previously read book so that children have something to relate to. As stated by Chris Tovani “Modelling gives students words and example to frame their thinking”.

The students in my class know the behaviour expected of them during Read to Self:

• ·         Read the whole time
• ·         Stay in one spot
• ·         Read quietly
• ·         Work on stamina
• ·         Get started right away.

As my class all do read to self once a day they are getting very good at increasing their stamina and I would estimate my higher learners have a stamina time of 20-25 minutes and my lower level learners at 15-20 minutes. This is increasing steadily each week as children practice.

Students demonstrating Read to Self.

I can celebrate that the students know the correct technique for Read to Self and are slowly building their own stamina to increase their time focused on a book.

How might you help your students continue to build stamina within these areas?

I am allowing my class the time to build this stamina and because I have such a wide range of learners I am aware that it is taking some children longer to establish this. However I offer the opportunity every day for them to practice this and continue to build on their stamina. I am also aware that I shouldn't tell children off for going off task if they have given it their best. At the end of the lesson they do a check in which informs me if they have tried their hardest.