# data[].attributes.body
Danna :)

This entire chapter is devoted to the Math Daily 3. If you have implemented or are interested in implementing the Daily 5 for reading, the Math Daily 3 structure simply "makes sense." In November of last year, I completed a month-long online seminar all about Math Daily 3 and it was full of great information. Last year I was out of the classroom as a TOSA, but the year before, my job-share partner and I did our own version of a Math Workshop combined with a little Math Daily 3. It was our attempt at playing with the idea of Math Daily 3, without following in lock-step order. I had not read about Math Daily 3, but only heard about it at the Sister's conferences and since we LOVED Daily 5, it made sense to try it out...K style. We were really flying blind, but we made it work and our format was very successful.

The biggest question from everyone is how do we make it time for everything we are require to do and how do you take a math curriculum AND make Math Daily 3 work?

Well, if you are a teacher in the NSD and you are in grades TK-5, Bridges and Math Daily 3 are like a match made in heaven! It was a huge bonus at the summer trainings to have a presenter who was a big supporter of Daily 5 and Math Daily 3. My side-bar discussions with her were fabulous and she affirmed that the way Bridges is set up really lends itself beautifully to the structure of Math Daily 3.

Now, there is a HUGE misconception from outsiders that Math Daily 3 is "math centers" and there is just no way to do everything we have to do as teachers AND still have time in our day to do "math centers." Math Daily 3 is certainly NOT centers, but rather provides some much needed structure to your math block, especially when you don't have a curriculum like Bridges (which is already structured so well that Math Daily 3 may not even be necessary...you see, Bridges is kinda' already like Math Daily 3). It also offers the added benefit of teacher time with small groups and individual students (which Bridges makes time for).

I asked the Sisters myself in the online seminar the very same question and they affirmed my original answer. The chapter talks about this as well...you really need to look at each math lesson with a discerning eye because not all are written and structure in a way that is brain compatible. Either the entire lesson or even smaller parts of the lesson as a whole, run far too long. We need to look at each lesson, eliminate what is not necessary, what is redundant, and break things into smaller chunks of brain compatible instruction. The "I Do, We Do, You Do" format for the 3 focus lessons is ideal and gives teachers the chance to do some explicit instruction of a new concept, some guided practice with the new concept, and then some individual practice with concept. You can easily frame this entire block then with a quick 2-3 minute math fluency/warm up beforehand and a short wrap-up/debrief with student math talk or a number talk afterwards.

We can make this work, I promise you! So whether you have Bridges or another curriculum, or maybe even no curriculum at all, Math Daily 3 can work for you! I am happy to help you sift through materials and see how the structure of Math Daily 3 can be implemented. Just let me know, drop me a line, and I'll be there!

# data[].attributes.body
Danna :)

I am so sorry it is Thursday and I have yet to post. I had planned to post Monday night, but sadly found out about the sudden and unexpected passing of a friend earlier that day and well...I've been struggling with that a bit and some things just needed to give. I needed to spend time with friends, my family, my children, and just BE. I'm not sure if anyone is reading or following along except for Megann and myself, so I figured it would be OK to take a little time off. :)

But back at I am!

Chapter 7
Introducing the next Daily 5 task/choice happens when students in your class have built up enough stamina. What I love is that "magic" number of minutes is age appropriate:

Kindergarten:  7-8 minutes

Primary:  10-12 minutes

Intermediate/Upper:  12-14 minutes

That is not to say that your Daily 5 rounds will only be as long as the above guidelines at all! It simply means your kiddos are ready for the next Daily 5 choice and the more choice you introduce, the longer their stamina will be until you eventually reach rounds of 20 minutes in K, 20-30 minutes in primary, and 30-40 minutes in intermediate/upper grades. Some teachers worry that their stamina drops from time to time when they are still working on launching on Read to Self. I have found that sometimes this simply means they are getting bored with only ONE choice. Once you introduce another Daily 5 choice/task, like Work on Writing, stamina magically goes back up because now they have another option. Look at that! Choice IMPROVES stamina!

A have a couple thoughts on Work on Writing as your second Daily 5 task/choice. I was shocked people, I mean SHOCKED when I after I launched Work on Writing in 2nd grade and my class went CRAZY over having a choice of what to do! They LOVED Work on Writing and writing had always been something that they didn't like so much. While there were times during Work on Writing where they worked on a writing prompt or task that they had been working on for our district writing program, the freedom to choose whether or not to work on district writing task OR their own topic, genre, style, etc. made Work on Writing a favorite from its introduction. They loved their interactive writing journal especially where I would write little comments about their writing from time to time...and my comments were never critiques or even feedback, but merely things like, "Oh wow! I can't wait to read what happens when Marissa finds the lost necklace!" They loved choosing different paper, making little journals for themselves, and using a variety of writing tools. When I introduced choice, their stamina went through the roof and it wasn't long before we were ready to launch the next Daily 5 task/choice.

The last thing I wanted to emphasize is the importance of the students checking in and you, the teacher, recording someway, somewhere, the choices they make during each round of Daily 5. Being able to "see" patterns in their choices can be very telling information and the only way to see those patterns is to keep a record of it. I did NOT do this at first in 2nd grade and it wasn't until I started keeping track of their choices that I saw some things that needed to be addressed. There are many ways to record their choices, too. Some teachers do so on a quick spreadsheet, others have the students record it on a Smart Notebook file and then record it on a spreadsheet later, other teachers have the students keep track on their own personal spreadsheet that is turned in each week, and CC Pensieve also offers a place to record these choices as well! Whatever you do, do NOT skip this step. It is super important...trust me! When you see the "trends" in both choices and what students are avoiding, it is only then that you can gently nudge them in a different direction OR use some time during a 1:1 conferring session to inquire and see what might be going on.

Chapter 9
I know we went a little out of order, but we are saving Chapter 8 for the final chapter because it goes into detail about Math Daily 3. If you are just getting your feet wet with Daily 5, you might not be ready for Math Daily 3! OR...on the other hand...once you implement Daily 5, Math Daily 3 really makes a whole lotta' sense!

In Chapter 9, the first section on the four levels of support for your "barometer children" is a great read and I highly recommend bookmarking that for future reference since we all have those children who need more support to be successful with Daily 5. You may not need it immediately...or even at all! But there is usually a student...or two...or three...that will need extra support to be successful during the Daily 5 tasks. What I like and appreciate, it that each level of support really requires you to be mindful of your own practice as a teacher. Once again, we are reminded that when our classroom is a place where trust and choice are welcome, student engagement, motivation, and success are really able to take flight.

In this chapter there are also sections with sample guest teacher plans, how to get new students up to speed with Daily 5, and introducing parents to the Daily 5. Also, be sure to take a look at all of the appendices...there are several good resources there for you!

# data[].attributes.body
Megann

This chapter again reiterates why we always begin Daily 5 with Read to Self. "We begin with Read to Self because it embodies the language, routines, expectations, and behaviors on which all the other components of Daily 5 are based. It allows us to support students in the literacy block as they build stamina and during this time we also teach the foundation lessons that will prepare students for subsequent components of the Daily 5" (p. 66).
This helps facilitate the independence as well as behaviors required for the success of Daily 5. "The tone for the entire year is established during the early weeks of school" (p. 67).
The authors also talk about having your Daily 5 and CAFE bulletin boards headings up on the 1st day of school so they can be added to throughout the year.
The most important concept I got from this chapter was that there are 3 ways to read a book: Read the Pictures, Read the Words and Read the Story. Often times in Kindergarten and 1st grade, you have students who cannot read words, let alone a story so making sure they are aware that "reading the pictures" IS reading and by modeling how to read pictures, you will not only show then that this is an acceptable form of reading, but will help with their confidence if they have only associated the word "read" with being able to read words.  "We keep in mind that, for now,  it's okay if our words don't match the text or story, as long as the pictures support what we say" (p. 69).
Picking "Good Fit" books is imperative to the success (or failure) of students for Read to Self. Students need to be a part of this process. "After all, choice is a powerful force to enable students to take responsibility and ownership of their learning, which increases motivation and learning (Gambrell 2011)" (p. 72.) However, students may not always be able to pick good fit books from the onset of the year as they think they can read more than what can in actuality and this leads to high levels of off task behavior. It is important for a teacher to get to know their students likes and interests to help them select a good fit book that is also in line with their reading ability.
IPICK will help students become better at self selecting good fit books
I select a book that look over it, inside and out
Purpose: Why might I want to read it?
Interest: Does it interest me?
Comprehend: Do I understand what I am reading?
Know: Do I know most of the words?
Demonstrating how to chose a good fit book by using an analogy of shoes (showing how some fit some people and some fit other people) helps students see how to use IPICK.
"Children who learn to select good-fit books are empowered to make excellent reading choices whether they are at school, at home, at the store, or in the public library. Having a variety of good-fit books available for all children is a vital piece to creating independence in the classroom" (p. 77). This is a huge responsibility for a teacher to ensure that her classroom library has a large selection of books at a variety of reading levels but critical to the needs of students.
Initially, it may be difficult to find good-fit books for students since their reading levels may be unknown at the beginning of the year but having the one on one and small group conferring will help with the adjustments that need to be made.
This chapter also discusses Work on Writing and how students may struggle with coming up with a topic to write about or stress over words they may not know how to spell. This is resolved by modeling how to pick a topic or actually giving a topic and keeping a notebook for words the student does not know which they have underlined in their writing. "it is more important to maintain our writing flow and not lose our thoughts" (p. 81) which will happen if a student takes too much time and effort on proper spelling vs. train of thought writing. They just need to do their best and move on.
Read to Someone is also discussed in this chapter and how the CAFE strategy of "Check for Understanding" comes into play. Modeling by using a picture book and stopping frequently to see if students are understanding what is being read to them.
The materials needed for Word Work are also discussed in this chapter but to be honest, I still do not really understand what Word Work is and hope I will get more clarification in future chapters!

Once again, the need to have a basis for Daily 5 established vs making it up as you go along or attempting to change it, is reiterated. "Trying to reteach something midyear is very challenging because of the phenomenon we call "beginning-of-the-year imprinting" (p. 86.) It is very hard to "unteach" or "unlearn" something that may already be committed to memory or routine so it is best to stick with what you started with (and hopefully if can be tweaked if need be for the next year!)

# data[].attributes.body
Megann

OK-so I am behind but still reading and still posting!
The main point I took away from this chapter is that children cannot be shown something once and be expected to commit it to memory. It is also received in 3 different ways/systems: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. If information is stored in more than one system, the memory is improved. "Memory stored in the kinesthetic system evokes the longest lasting memory. To activate this system, teachers can provide kinesthetic learning experiences so children hear and feel the behaviors expected of them. Over time, this movement is stored in muscle memory  and becomes part of students' default behaviors". (page 36.)
When identifying what is to be taught, a teacher needs to articulate EXACTLY what is going to be taught to promote better focus and attention. If students know WHY they need to learn it or WHAT the educational/instructional goal is, it will help them take the necessary steps to get there. In other words, seeing the big picture is beneficial when taking steps to get there.
One thing that differed from the 1st edition of The Daily 5 is that now instead of having students brainstorm what the desired behaviors should look like, the behaviors are all ready set out for them on the I-Chart. "By subtly shifting our words to state the exact desired behaviors, children learn exactly what the behaviors look like, thus setting them up for success" (page 39).
Modeling both desired as well as undesired behaviors is also key for students to experience and visualize what they should do and what they should not do. Having students come up and demonstrate both desired and undesired behaviors helps to facilitate a sense of ownership as well as understanding on what they they need to do. This needs to be repeated, not just demonstrated once and then expect that all of the class will commit it to memory, or automacy. "Through modeling, not only have we provided an opportunity for children to feel the correct behaviors as compared with the incorrect but also children have become confident in their ability to participate in Daily 5 with appropriate behaviors. By making what's expected and what is unacceptable three-dimensional, students have a much clearer vision of what they are to do as well as what they should not be doing" (page 43.)
It is also an important of Daily 5 to let students decide where in the room they want to sit. However, when it comes to self-selection, the children with the shortest stamina should be called last to choose their spot so they have fewer choices/options. It may also be necessary for the teacher to move students if they become distracted or distracting. Timers never dictate the amount of time  children may practice building stamina either. "We always let our students' behavior set the pace, and we remind ourselves that a new group of students will not necessarily build stamina like our previous class did" (page 46.) It is important to actively watch for breaks in stamina as the teacher and remain still so we are not a cause of our students' breaking stamina. When one student exhausts his or her stamina, other students will soon follow.  The round is ended with chimes, not a verbal cue as it needs to be gentle and subtle.
The last part of the chapter discusses the students' reflection and letting them be accountable for their ratings. "Our younger students who are still in the egocentric stage of development will likely show 4 fingers for every behavior" (page 52) and the teacher does not correct them.
Consistently reviewing the I-Chart and modeling behaviors will help students' commit the behavior expectations of Daily 5 to memory.

CHAPTER 4
Chimes: A great tool to use for transitions and to signal the end of a round of Daily 5. It is not aggressive but gentle. "We ring chimes to interrupt their work session with a sound above or significantly different from, the background noise in the room. We then pause, not moving, talking or ringing the chime again, long enough for even the kinesthetic children, who sometimes aren't tuned in to sounds, to look up. Finally, we drop our voices below the level of the chimes to w whisper, but loud enough for the children to hear us. (p. 54).
Chart Rack/Interactive Whiteboard: I-Chart should be displayed during Daily 5 to be called upon as needed and as a subliminal reminder to students as to what the desired behaviors are.
Tools: Since not all students can build stamina at the same rate, tools may be needed for those who are having some trouble. They can include timers, alternative reading materials and tactile objects for students to use.
Book Boxes: Each student should have their own book box with "good fit" books (discussed in depth in Chapter 5.)
Gathering Place for Focus Lesson: such as the carpet or an area large enough to accommodate the entire class. "Three of the biggest payoffs of a gathering space are behavior management through proximity, enhancing deeper thinking, through accountable talk with partners, and the elimination of the convenient distractions kept inside a desk" (p. 60).
Classroom Design: This gets a bit tricky given the amount of space within the typical classroom but having low tables for floor sitting, regular tables with chairs, high counters for standing, comfortable chairs/couch/love set (maybe a bean bag chair or two), area rugs, loft (*yeah, right) and single seat spots.
Although students will be allowed to choose their own location for Read to Self, when launching Daily 5, teachers should be active in those decisions and move students to different areas to see where they are most comfortable and least distracted. "When launching Daily 5 we initially place children in different locations every day and always ask them to reflect on how that seating area worked for them and their independence" (p. 64.)

# data[].attributes.body
Danna :)

It's very quiet around here! I'm not sure if anyone is following along, or reading my Daily 5 musings, but I will keep this going and hopefully offer some helpful information and personal thoughts about the chapters each week!

Chapter 5 and 6 actually both talk a lot about the foundation lessons for each of the Daily 5 tasks. When you explicitly teach children desired behaviors and give them the chance to model, practice, and refine those behaviors, your Daily 5 rounds are going to go so much more smoothly and your students will truly learn how to be independent (and not come up to you every other minute while you are conferring!).

Chapter 6 does a great job of emphasizing the importance of these foundation lessons, which is something that was not a focus in the first edition of the book. I have found that with each grade level/age group, there are foundations lessons that you might come up with that are not included in the official list of lessons. We know our students best and some lessons might also need to be modified to work with our individual classrooms/philosophies/management. Make each of the Daily 5 tasks work for you!

# data[].attributes.body
Danna :)

So what do you think of the first Daily 5 literacy task, Read to Self? :)

Something that I want to be sure to reiterate is just how important it is to launch Read to Self (and the other Daily 5 literacy tasks) with specific, direct, focused instruction. You are teaching your kiddos the expected behaviors that will carry through each of the other four Daily 5 tasks and the Math Daily 3 tasks as well. So folks, do it well now, do it thoroughly, be diligent, go slowly, and it will pay off in the end! The sisters say they “Move slowly at first in order to move fast later on.” That statement couldn’t be more true. Launching Read to Self is probably the easiest of the Daily 5 to launch, but it will take you longest to launch, if you do it correctly. :)

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 4 - What Do You Need to Begin the Daily 5?

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 4 - What Do You Need to Begin the Daily 5?

# data[].attributes.body
Danna :)

I soooo love setting up for Daily 5 and CAFE! Some tips and tricks I have learned along the way...

1. Your Daily 5 and/or CAFE board should be somewhere where children can ACCESS it. Your students should be able to interact with the board by placing their own stickie note with their name on their focus area and really see the strategies written out by themselves and their classmates. It should be a focal point in the room and a board of strategies that are referred to over and over again during your teaching, both whole-group and small-group, and when one-on-one conferring as well.

2. Book Bins - I have seen so many great ideas for Book Bins over the years, from IKEA cardboard magazine boxes the children can decorate and take home at the end of the year (available on Amazon, too) to the ULTRA durable book bins from Really Good Stuff that come in EVERY color under the sun! They are not cheap by any means, but I promise you they are a one-time buy and so worth it. Dollar Tree is another great resource and you can often find good size bins there for a great price.

Inside the book bins you should have (in addition to 5-8 books), a pencil case of some sort to hold a pencil, highlighter, stickie notes, and crayons or colored pencils (the slider cases are great and you can scoop them up for 25 cents each at Walmart sometimes!), a writing notebook or journal, and a personal word wall or word collector.

3. Classroom Layout - There were so many great photos of classrooms with creative seating arrangements in the book. Think of ways you can make your room full of cozy niches for reading! Carpet squares, throw pillows (IKEA has some great pillow cases and inserts for great prices), bean bags, laundry baskets to sit in...these are the little things that kids love to grab, get comfy with, and lose themselves in a book!

There have been so many great articles by Edutopia lately on alternative/creative classroom arrangements and seating. I would love to see us jump on that band wagon at some point, especially since not all kiddos work well sitting at a typical chair and typical desk. I'm a little bit in love with the standing desks that are becoming popular. I have always allowed my students to stand if they need to while they work at their desk and every year there are a handful that truly needed that flexibility on my part to be successful.

4. Classroom Library - The more books the better! I am collecting used books and hope to find a spot for a free library of sorts where you can take books to build your library!

Also know that our public library is a great resource for teachers! You can check out up to 50 books at a time. If you have a theme or topic, you can also contact them and they will set you up with a bag of 20-25 books on that topic. They truly love teachers!

5. I-Charts - I-charts should be visible and left up all year long. These are anchors for the students' learning and while I know wall real estate is hard to come by in our rooms, one teacher "hung" his I-charts, almost like flags if you will, in a row at the back of the classroom. It was a brilliant use of this row of empty "air space" directly in front of his cabinets.

If you need any help setting up any part of your room for Daily 5 and CAFE, please let me know! I am your point person on this and have lots of organizational tips and tricks!

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapters 3 - The 10 Steps to Teaching and Learning Independence

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapters 3 - The 10 Steps to Teaching and Learning Independence

# data[].attributes.body
Danna :)

Chapter 3 goes into detail about the Sisters' 10 Steps to Teaching and Learning Independence. These ten steps are so simple and clear and truly can be used to teach anything--any routine, any procedure, any expectation within or outside of the classroom. I think the ten steps are so effective because they recruit all 3 external memory systems: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic in one learning process. Because of this, every student can be successful in becoming completely independent during the Daily 5 literacy tasks (and Math Daily 3 tasks, as well). Even our barometer students, given the appropriate structure and tools for success, can, too, become successful independent learners and workers.

During our recent district Bridges trainings, several piloting schools shared their frustration with students being able to work independently during Work Places. Of course, the 10 Steps ran through my mind immediately and I wanted so badly to jump in and share them with the group. The 10 Steps would work beautifully here in introducing new work places and really teaching students HOW to be independent. It is a process that cannot be rushed and going through the steps is vital to its overall success. Students cannot be expected to just "know" how to work independently...that is, not unless we have taught them explicitly, the steps and expectations, practiced those steps and built stamina accordingly, and allowed them to evaluate and take ownership of their own learning and execution of the independent task at hand.

# data[].attributes.body
Danna

I've been camping for four days and just got back into town. Thought I would have wifi access but no suck luck! I'll catch things up tonight/tomorrow!

# data[].attributes.body
Megann

CHAPTER 1
Since I was only an observer of Daily 5 this past year, I found it interesting to read the first 2 chapters of this book and correlate it to what I had witnessed. Referring to Figure 1.1 on pages 8-9. I noticed how the accountability of student behavior has moved from the teacher to the student with Daily 5. The teacher is more of a facilitator or moderator vs. the determiner of appropriate/acceptable behavior and expectations. One teacher I observed would have the students rate themselves by giving holding 1 or 2 fingers up under their chin after each round of Daily 5. If they gave themselves a 1, they felt they followed the Daily 5 expectations. If they gave themselves a 2, they felt they did not follow the Daily 5 expectations and would tell why, such as breaking stamina, talking to their neighbor or not staying in one place. If students gave themselves a 2 in the first round, they knew they would be clipped down if they received a 2 after the second round. Sometimes (but rarely) the teacher would contradict the student's choice but the student was given the power to agree or disagree with the teacher and most of the time, the decision was left up to the student.

Giving "power" or autonomy to a 1st grader is something that frankly, scares the bejeezus out of me to some extent but I have seen it work, albeit towards the end of the school year vs the beginning. However, I think in grades where students have already been given the groundwork of Daily 5 and have practice implementing it with the expectations clear and concise, this may be possible at the beginning of the year as well.

"What we have learned is that students who have longer amount of stamina are often those who are more advanced readers. Once students read at the third-to-fourth grade level or higher, they become "in-the-head" readers and prefer Read to Self." (p. 16) "Typically students who take part in Read to Someone are our younger students or students who are high auditory, meaning the need to read aloud to comprehend." (p. 16-17). I found this very interesting as 1st graders almost always need to hear themselves read and cannot read "in-the-head" therefore, the Read to Self practice is not all that quiet :)

CHAPTER 2
"Meaningful learning requires respect and trust between the teacher and students. Taking time to build trust and demonstrate respect is the foundation upon which all other elements of learning are built." (p. 22). What an awesome statement of the importance of establishing not only a "safe" learning environment but also one which facilitates mutual trust and respect. Although not always practical with all students (if you cannot trust them, you cannot always respect them), I admire the overall goal.

The other topic I felt was very powerful was giving students the power of choice, even if it is only choosing between two tasks. If a student is allowed to choose which order they complete those tasks, they are given a sense of ownership, control, and most importantly, responsibility over their own learning. "It rings true for all of us, not just the children we serve: When we have some say in the matter, we are much more motivated to complete the task." (p. 26)

With regards to the Brain Research section of this chapter, I refer to Ken Wesson, "The average number of years our children are in age parallels the average number of minutes they can maintain attention during direct instruction-whole group, small group or one-on-one as measured with PET scans." (p. 28). Although not surprising given my personal experience, it seems impossible to be able to limit direct instruction to 5-8 minutes for primary grades in areas other than the literacy block of Daily 5. Apparently, SOME people are unfamiliar with this when designing/requiring instruction :) But it is nice that Daily 5 is on parr with brain research.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapters 1- That Was Then, and This is Now and 2 - Our Core Beliefs

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapters 1- That Was Then, and This is Now and 2 - Our Core Beliefs

# data[].attributes.body
Danna :)

Hello there! Be sure to say hi and let us know you are joining us! Even if you never post again and just follow along quietly, it is nice to know who our audience is...what grade levels are following along...etc.

Funny, I have now read the 2nd edition 3 times and each time I find a new tidbit of info that speaks to me. This time through, Richard Allington's statement at the 2011 national conference for the International Reading Association was a blaring red flag that had me thinking...how on earth can we do that? He said that children should spend a minimum of ninety minutes per day in high-success reading (98 percent accuracy, reading in phrases, with at least 90 percent comprehension), AND any and all reading instruction should occur OUTSIDE of those ninety minutes.

Wow.

That's a lot of reading and I can't quite figure out at this moment how we can make that happen, but I sure plan to make it a goal! I want to say even at my best, we had 3, 20 minute rounds of Daily 5 for 60 minutes of high-success reading. Reading instruction happened in 3-4, 10 minute mini-lessons between rounds. This was K and 2nd grade. With the time constraints teachers face and requirement upon requirement of teaching "must do's"...the 90 minutes really seems near impossible.

So what do we do? We make it a goal. And we do as much as we can to reach it. Succeed or not...we go down trying!

On to Chapter 2...

For the last book study we did I posted a link to the article below. It really speaks to the importance of time and choice in the classroom. Time to read. Time to write. The choice of WHAT to read and WHAT to write. Period.

I think for most teachers ready to embark on this journey of Daily 5/CAFE, releasing control is the hardest part. Giving your students ample time to read, what they want to read, and trusting that they are doing just that...without holding them "accountable" with some type of end product that proves they actually read what they "looked" like they were reading...is a really difficult leap. It's a hard first step, but trust me, once you let go...amazing things happen.

Simultaneously, I am reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and the introduction and chapter 1 already have me raising my arms and shouting "YES!!!" a million times. To say Daily 5 and that book go hand in hand is an understatement. They compliment each other beautifully and even this self-confessed non-reader is wanting more!

So what do you think? Did anything new stand out for repeat readers? For our newbies, what are you thinking right now? Is this doable? In what ways will this process challenge you and your current teaching practices?

Way in!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Nancie Atwell is the renowned founder of the Center for Teaching and Learning, an award-winning non-profit independent K-8 demonstration school in Edgecomb, Maine, where she teaches seventh- and eighth-grade writing, reading and history. She is the author of numerous books, including the classic "In the Middle: A Lifetime of Learning About Writing, Reading, and Adolescents," which has inspired teachers for years, and she has won numerous awards, including the first-ever $1 million Global Teacher Prize given last month by the Varkey Foundation.

Atwell's school has a national reputation for its research-based literacy methods which focus on engaging and challenging students while fostering relationships between faculty and parents. A hallmark of the school are the collections of books, carefully selected by adults, from which students can choose. Afterward the children develop lists of books they found inspiring, an effort to help guide other young people looking for great books to read. The recommended book lists are on the school's website and popular with teachers around the country.

In this post, Atwell reclaims the term "innovation" from the tech world and identifies what she calls the simplest and most powerful classroom innovation that she has used in during her 40-year career.

By Nancie Atwell

When reformers discuss how to improve U.S. education, innovation is a word they use a lot, preceded by the modifier technological: innovation gets defined as devices and apps. But as a growing body of research has begun to question whether tablets, e-readers, and assorted digital platforms are doing children more harm than good, I'd like to reclaim the term. Methods, created by teachers in a quest to develop students' skills and understandings, are the essential innovations. In my 40-year career as a middle school English teacher, the simplest and most powerful innovation was to give my students time and choice as writers and readers.

In a writing-reading workshop, students choose the topics they write about and the books they read. Because they decide, they engage. Because they engage, they experience the volume of committed practice that leads to stamina and excellence. Each year my students read an average of 40 books and produced over 20 pieces of writing. They won writing contests, were published, and earned money. Most importantly, they discovered what writing and reading are good for, here and now and in their literate lives to come. Time and choice encourage and transform children of every ability and background.

Take Mike. He entered our K-8 school as an eighth grader. On the reading survey students complete in September, he wrote that comics was his favorite genre. He couldn't name a book he'd like to read and identified no strengths as a reader. His only reading goal: "Staying with the book. Sometimes I doze off." He said he hadn't read a single book over the previous 12 months. Mike summed up his feelings about himself in one word: "Bad."

I asked him, "You read zero books last year? How can that be?" He explained he'd been given one book in English class, a fat textbook. The teacher assigned students to read a selection and answer the questions at the end. If it was homework, he fudged it, copied someone else's, or didn't bother to do it. He said, "When I was supposed to read in class, I 'fake read'. Usually I played with a computer game that I hid behind the book while I fake read it."

More than anyone we teach, our inexperienced, unenthusiastic readers-our Mikes-need compelling stories, characters they can identify with, vicarious experiences, and pleasure. Give them intriguing introductions to compelling stories and time in school to read them. Give them a community to read in, a healthy collection of books to choose from, and conversations with a teacher who knows the collection, and they will grow into fluent, passionate readers.

On his first day of reading workshop, Mike practically ripped Carl Deuker's baseball novel High Heat out of my hands when I finished my booktalk on a cliffhanger, inviting intrigued readers to find out what happens next. Mike finished High Heat in a week. Its reading level was beyond his ability, but my introduction, his curiosity, and baseball enticed him into Deuker's fictional world and held him. In our conferences during independent reading time, he could tell me what was happening and what he thought so far, and that was all I needed to know. Then he was on the look-out for the next title on his "Someday List" of books he wanted to read.

Mike finished 36 books that year and became an avid, adept reader. There were no book reports, quizzes, vocabulary lessons, discussion questions, close-reading sessions, or digital platforms. There was time for him to get lost in stories, other readers to talk with and write to about books, and lots of titles by authors who respect and get adolescence-writers who know how to craft plots and themes that appeal to teenagers.

Anyone's achievement is driven by interest. Until eighth grade, Mike had no reason to be interested in reading. But when he was offered vicarious adventures with characters he came to care for, he wanted to practice reading; through engaged practice, he became good at it. The lure of stories is a reading teacher's superhero power.

Student writers, too, learn best in the context of texts that matter to them. Topics they develop, time to practice, conferences with the teacher about their drafts, and authentic genres to write stretch children in profound directions.

Colleen was my student years ago. She was an enthusiastic poet, storyteller, and reviewer-a child writer with a voice and an investment in self-expression. She wrote to me recently as a second-year law student about how the writing she composed in K-8 prepared her to write as an attorney:

"In the spring we were required to write an appellate brief, and the process included peer editing. I was astonished to see the drastic differences between my writing and that of my classmates-the errors, confusion, and clutter. I was taught from a very young age . . . to love writing and to practice, regularly and passionately. It wasn't only about teaching us how to write professionally and effectively, but also to bestow the deeper appreciation and satisfaction that one derives from writing well. I approach writing today much the same way you instructed me, with an eye for creativity and analysis, and relentless dedication."

Colleen recognized that a school environment in which she was invited "to love writing and to practice, regularly and passionately" taught her how to write, period. None of her K-8 teachers was trying to prepare her for a career at the bar by backmapping the curriculum. Instead, we taught a little girl how to express herself on paper about ideas she cared about.

Colleen's stated ambitions at the end of eighth grade were to star on Broadway and marry someone famous. Like other students who grew up to become lawyers-as well as copywriters, editors, academics, business people, environmentalists, engineers, and social workers, all adults who work at careers in which they write every day-she benefited from a developmentally appropriate curriculum that gave her autonomy, experience, and one-to-one advice about how to meet her intentions as a writer.

Writing workshop teaches children how to work hard as writers. It's not soft or easy; it is immersive and demanding. The goal is excellence. Exploring their ideas in authentic, kid-friendly ways fires students with a sense of purpose and impels them to craft and communicate meaning, while daily time to write gives them the practice they need to achieve their purposes.

Each school year, the writers at my school study age-appropriate genres. The seventh and eighth graders produce free-verse poetry, memoirs, reviews, short fiction, parodies, essays, profiles, and advocacy journalism. Along the way, they discover the uses of each genre-what it can do for them as writers and how it can influence readers. Because the writing is real, so is its impact.

When middle school students take on the real work of advocating for causes they believe in, they begin by generating a list of local nonprofit organizations; then each writer chooses one to champion. The goal is to write about it so well that the younger children will vote to award it a small grant-one of three-to support its work. Sophia decided to advocate for Feed Our Scholars, which sends local students from impoverished families home on Friday afternoons with backpacks filled with meals for the weekend.

Sophia's class read powerful examples of advocacy journalism and teased out features of the genre. She telephoned the director of Feed Our Scholars and scheduled a site visit and interview. After the class generated baseline questions, she typed hers up on a laptop, and then spent a morning onsite collecting information-history, logistics, statistics, quotes, and anecdotes.

Back at school, she experimented with leads until she found a direction for her essay. She ordered her information, drafted it, clarified and tightened it, read and revised her text against the criteria her class created, and conferred with me along the way. Finally, students collaborated on a second set of criteria, for how they wanted the younger children to judge the writing.

Sophia's eloquent essay was not one of the three that won over the littler kids. The kid it did win over is Sophia. The girl is on fire about food insecurity in America. She devoted a dawn-to-dusk Saturday to baking hundreds of cookies, and on Sunday set up a bake sale at her church. She raised over $700 for Feed Our Scholars, enough money for a year of weekend food for three local families. Because she writes, Sophia is learning about the kind of woman she wishes to be and the difference an individual can make.

In this time of Common Core State Standards, public school teachers feel pressure to adopt methods geared to the new assessments. I sympathize. I also know what I would do if I were in their shoes: try to teach authentic writing and reading, but devote a couple of weeks in March to a genre study of test writing and to strategy lessons about multiple-choice questions and answers. During my years in public schools, my students drew on their rich experiences as writers and readers, along with a few tactical practice sessions, to perform at least as well as kids who'd been test-prepped all year long, and usually much better.

Students leave our tiny school in rural Maine as writers with voices, as critical readers. They succeed in high school, college, and life because they're ready for the world they'll meet out there -for concepts, cultures, and experiences they've already encountered in the pages of books they loved and writing they produced. Time and choice motivate every child to engage, thrive, and grow up healthy and whole.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 'most powerful' classroom innovation - by the $1 million teaching prize winner

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
'When reformers discuss how to improve U.S. education, innovation is a word they use a lot, preceded by the modifier technological: innovation gets defined as devices and apps. But as a growing body of research has begun to question whether tablets, e-readers, and assorted digital platforms are doing children more harm than good, I'd like to reclaim the term.'

# data[].attributes.headline
Welcome to our Summer '16 Daily 5 Book Study!

# data[].attributes.subject
Welcome to our Summer '16 Daily 5 Book Study!

# data[].attributes.body
Danna :)

I am hoping this book study will provide some structure and guidance for your reading of The Daily 5 book. I know it's nice to have a little "push" sometimes to get you started and keep you on track. A few things to keep in mind:

1. Check the Chapter Reading Schedule post and be sure to have the chapter(s) read by the date given.

2. Read through the questions on the "Daily 5 Book Study" PDF before and after you read a chapter to help frame your reading and thinking.

3. After completing an assignment, way-in on the chapter by creating your own post. Be sure to title your post with the correct chapter so it can easily be referenced by others. Feel free to ask questions, make comments, post ideas, etc. Don't forget to add your name so we can chat back and forth!

See you all here beginning Monday, June 20th! :)

# data[].attributes.body
Week of 6/20
Chapter 1:  That Was Then, This Is Now
Chapter 2:  Our Core Beliefs

Week of 6/27
Chapter 3:  The 10 Steps to Teaching and Learning Independence
Chapter 4:  What Do You Need to Begin the Daily 5?

Week of 7/5
Chapter 5:  Launching Read to Self
Chapter 6:  Foundation Lessons

Week 7/11
Chapter 7:  When to Launch the Next Daily 5
Chapter 9:  Returning to Our Core Beliefs

Week of 7/18 (optional)
Chapter 8:  The Math Daily 3