Joan and Gail modeling The Daily 5™

Do you love teaching but feel exhausted from the energy you expend cajoling, disciplining and directing students on a daily basis?  Are you questioning the value of busy work but afraid that ceasing from such activities will lead to chaos in the classroom?  Have you heard the phrase, “work smarter, not harder” but don’t have a clue how to start?  If so, you’ll want to read this book!  We set about designing a structure that would ensure all children were working at their level of challenge while taking responsibility for their learning and behavior, and that would provide meaningful instruction blocks without extensive preparation time for teachers.  Thus The Daily 5™ was born.

Based on literacy learning and motivation research, The Daily 5™ has been practiced and refined in our own classrooms for 10 years and shared with thousands of teachers throughout the United States.  The Daily 5™ is a series of literacy tasks which students complete daily while the teacher meets with small groups or confers with individuals.

This book not only explains the philosophy behind the structure, but shows you how to carefully and systematically train your students to participate in each of the five components.  Explicit modeling, practice, reflecting and refining takes place during the launching phase, preparing the foundation for a year of meaningful content and instruction tailored to meet the unique needs of each child.

The Daily 5™ is more than a management system or a curriculum framework – it is a structure that will help students develop the daily habits of reading, writing and working with peers that will lead to a lifetime of independent literacy.