# data[].attributes.body
"Spending time practicing spelling helps us become not only better spellers and writers, but also better readers." (p. 85)

# data[].attributes.body
"Creating and maintaining a time during each literacy block to focus on words is critical to developing readers, writers ,and communicators." (p. 85)

# data[].attributes.body
"Purpose + Choice = Motivation" (p. 21).

*When students are given a choice, as in with Daily 5, it encourages them to want to work on the activities while learning to be independent learners who can spell, read, and write.

# data[].attributes.body
"The Daily 5 is a student-driven management structure designed to fully engage students in reading and writing." (p. 12)

# data[].attributes.body
"As word work becomes increasingly part of a balanced literacy curriculum, teachers continue to implement it in hopes to increase students’ reading and writing abilities as well as increase their motivation to learn" (p. 13)

# data[].attributes.body
"The skills that make students good spellers also contribute to developing good readers." (p. 11)

# data[].attributes.body
". Teachers must teach children how to use word study independently in their reading and writing if they expect them to apply this process (of reading and writing development)." (p. 10)

# data[].attributes.body
"Through word study, students make use of gained orthographic knowledge as well as cognitive strategies through authentic writing activities." (p. 10).

# data[].attributes.body
"The goal of word study is for students to develop a working knowledge of the orthography that may be applied to students’ reading and writing." (p. 9)

# data[].attributes.body
"These hands-on, engaging activities provide students with opportunities to go beyond memorizing and to be able to apply critical thinking to spelling, vocabulary and syntax." (p. 8)

# data[].attributes.body
"spelling test results are not always indicative of a student’s overall spelling ability or orthographic knowledge. " (p. 7)

**Hence the reason for word work to move away from rote memorization**

# data[].attributes.body
"Students must explore words in a way that is meaningful to them." (p. 5)

**Connect this statement to the part of Daily 5 being about students making choices in the work they complete!**

# data[].attributes.body
"word study will have the highest impact on student learning if combined with authentic literacy experiences." (P. 5)

# data[].attributes.body
"In a word study program, students don’t just learn words, they learn about words." (p. 4)

# data[].attributes.body
"each small group will need several activities every week to provide repeated opportunities for examining the concepts you are teaching and to promote inquiry and discovery about the way English words work."

# data[].attributes.body
"We think of strategies as tools that help students actively use what they've learned. "

# data[].attributes.body
"Word study undoubtedly supports students' spelling achievement."

# data[].attributes.body
"Students learn word knowledge that they can apply generally to a wide range of reading and writing activities."

# data[].attributes.body
For a word study program to be successful, the teacher has to invest sufficient time preparing for daily instruction and word work."

# data[].attributes.body
"Teachers use a variety of hands-on activities, often called word work, to help students actively explore these layers of information."

# data[].attributes.body
"The results of this study have provided me with the tools necessary to compose a structure of a whole-language approach that encourages students' independence and engagement while fostering their reading and writing development." (p. 58)

# data[].attributes.body
"The Daily Five teaches students to be self-sufficient and, therefore, eliminates many individual behavior problems." (p. 55)

# data[].attributes.body
"Each teacher can give a hundred percent focus on the task of delivering guided reading instruction" (p. 43-44)

# data[].attributes.body
"The program not only teaches strategies students can use within the classroom, but also transcends beyond the classroom." (p. 41)

# data[].attributes.body
"Students demonstrate their willingness to immerse themselves in language and learn to grow in their reading and writing development." (p. 29)

# data[].attributes.body
"In order to provide students with the right tools to be successful in reading, teachers must provide clear, concise, and explicit instruction, in a formulated spelling approach" (p. 19)

# data[].attributes.body
"The value students gain from carefully choosing appropriate leveled books is invaluable to their everyday independent reading and writing development." (p. 15)

# data[].attributes.body
"A direct correlation between the efficiency of students' reading and writing development and the structure of literacy instruction provided is evident." (p. 14)

# data[].attributes.body
"As teachers familiarize students with the routines of the Daily Five and model through demonstration, the format of the components, students gain more responsibility toward independence and assume ownership of their own learning." (p. 7).

# data[].attributes.body
"The components that build the structure of the Daily Five are all individually proven strategies to support children's reading and writing development." (p. 5)

# data[].attributes.body
"The Daily Five approach, developed by two sisters, Gail Boushey & Joan Moser, provides a framework for incorporating a holistic balanced literacy approach into a structured classroom." (p. 2)

# data[].attributes.body
"a literacy approach that will not only engage my students, but also teach and promote self-independence on tasks, so that as a teacher, I can attempt to attend to all my students' needs individually on a daily basis during the literacy block." (p. 1).

# data[].attributes.body
"when students are given choices it makes the learning fun and meaningful to them" (p. 16)

# data[].attributes.body
"I was able to determine that in fact the Daily 5 framework had allowed my students to become independent learners who were engaged in meaningful activities which contributed to their successful growth as readers and writers." (p. 14)

# data[].attributes.body
"the Daily 5 is the ultimate framework for creating, balancing, and maintaining a student-driven literacy block." (p. 10)

# data[].attributes.body
"It is essential to create a classroom environment which was student-centered, positive, warm, and safe" (p. 10)

# data[].attributes.body
"(Word work) is an essential foundation for writers"

(p. 8)

# data[].attributes.body
"a literacy framework which is a student-driven management structure designed to fully engage students in reading and writing." (p. 7).

# data[].attributes.body
The author was "looking for a framework which was student-driven and would actively engage students in meaningful reading and writing" (p. 7)

# data[].attributes.body
"effective teachers maintain and find a balance between teaching of skills, literature, and writing." (p.4)

# data[].attributes.body
We knew we wanted to work with individuals and small groups of kids but we couldn't figure out what to do with the rest of the class.

-Moser

# data[].attributes.body
"The success of such efforts depends, in part, on providing spelling instruction that is responsive to children’s individual needs" (S. Graham & Harris, 2002, p. 798).

# data[].attributes.body
"Because spelling is so important to young children's literacy development, it is critical that spelling is taught effectively during the primary grades." (p. 798)

# data[].attributes.body
Teaching Spelling in the Primary Grades

Steve Graham, Paul Morphy, Karen R. Harris, Barbara Fink-Chorzempa, Bruce Sadler, Susan Moran, and Linda Mason (June 18, 2008)

# data[].attributes.body
"(research has) found that better spellers tended to be better readers (and vice versa)" (p. 22)

# data[].attributes.body
"Learning to spell enhances children’s reading and writing. " (p. 12)

# data[].attributes.body
"Research has shown that learning to spell and learning to read rely on much of the same underlying knowledge." (p.12)

# data[].attributes.body
"By using the knowledge from years of research and experience and our ever-developing technological tools, we can teach each student to spell well and enable them to read and write fluently."

# data[].attributes.body
"(Practice) helps students conquer the challenge of remembering the spellings of words, because the "working memory" can be used more efficiently if both the visual and auditory channels are engaged in the learning task."

# data[].attributes.body
"Understanding the rules and patterns helps the student who doesn't intuitively pick them up and enables the teacher to clear up confusion instead of having to resort to "it's just how it's spelled."

# data[].attributes.body
"teaching spelling and handwriting enables a struggling student to use different senses and strengths to learn and master the relationship between the sounds and symbols of our language, which is the backbone of reading."

# data[].attributes.body
"It is mortar that helps students master the basics of language, especially students who may struggle with reading."

# data[].attributes.body
"A skilled speller is a stronger reader and writer."

# data[].attributes.body
"Students study the orthographic representations of the word and engage in repeated, contextualized encoding practice to strengthen the cognitive connections." - Could be used in word work section.

# data[].attributes.body
"the more often a student works with words that share a spelling pattern, the more likely the student is to accurately spell new words that also have the pattern."-Could be used with word work section.

# data[].attributes.body
"Teaching reading and spelling together gives students more opportunities to practice applying common patterns."

# data[].attributes.body
"Proficiency in spelling actually supports reading" (Moats, 2005/2006).

# data[].attributes.body
"a meta-analysis conducted by Graham and Hebert (2010) summarizing the effects of instructional practices in writing on reading outcomes found that teaching spelling had a strong effect on reading fluency among students in grades one to seven (effect size = 0.79) and word reading skills in grades one to five (effect size = 0.68)."

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Literature Review Outline:

1. Introduction

2. Why is spelling important?

3. Daily 5

4. Word work

5. Conclusion

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Moats, Louisa C. (2005). How Spelling Supports Reading. American Educator, Winter 2005/06, 12-43.

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Word Study Instruction in the K-2 Classroom

Cheri Williams, Colleen Phillips-Birdsong, Krissy Hufnagel, Diane Hungler, et al (April 2009)

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Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2000). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2008). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bear, D.R., & Templeton, S. (1998). Explorations in developmental spelling: Foundations for learning and teaching phonics, spelling, and vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 52(3), 222-242.

Beckham-Hungler, D., & Williams, C. (2003). Teaching words that students misspell: Spelling instruction and young children's writing. Language Arts, 80(4), 299-309.

Brand, M. (2004). Word savvy: Integrated vocabulary, spelling and word study, grades 3-6. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Brown, G.D.A., & Ellis, N.C. (Eds.). (1994). Handbook of spelling: Theory, process, and intervention. Chichester, England: Wiley.

Cambourne, B. (1995). Toward an educationally relevant theory of literacy learning: Twenty years of inquiry. The Reading Teacher, 49(3), 182-190.

Clay, M. (1997). An observation survey. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Clay, M. (2001). Change over time in children's literacy development. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Cunningham, P.M. (1995). Phonics they use: Words for reading and writing (2nd ed.). New York: HarperCollins.

Cunningham, P.M., & Hall, D.P. (1996). Making words: Multilevel, hands on, developmentally appropriate spelling and phonics activities. Carthage, IL: Good Apple.

Dudley-Marling, C. (1997). Living with uncertainty: The messy reality of classroom practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Ehri, L.C. (1992). Review and commentary: Stages of spelling development. In S. Templeton & D. Bear (Eds.), Development of orthographic knowledge and the foundation of literacy: A memorial Festschrift for Edmund H. Henderson (pp. 307-332). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (1996). Guided reading: Good first teaching for all children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Gee, J.P. (2001). A sociocultural perspective on early literacydevelopment. In S.B. Neuman & D.K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 30-42). New York: Guilford.

Goswami, U.C., & Bryant, P. (1990). Phonological skills and learning to read. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Hughes, M., & Searle, D. (1997). The violent "e" and other tricky sounds: Learning to spell from kindergarten through grade 6. York, ME: Stenhouse.

Invernizzi, M., & Hayes, L. (2004). Developmental-spelling research: A systematic imperative. Reading Research Quarterly, 39(2), 216-228.

Joseph, L.M. (2000). Developing first graders' phonemic awareness, word identification and spelling: A comparison of two contemporary phonic instructional approaches. Reading Research and Instruction, 39(2), 160-169.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

McCarrier, A., Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (2000). Interactive writing: How language and literacy come together, K-2. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Pinnell, G.S., & Fountas, I.C. (1998). Word matters: Teaching phonics and spelling in the reading/writing classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Richgels, D.J. (1995). Invented spelling ability and printed word learning in kindergarten. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(1), 96-109.

Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press.

Schulman, M.B., & Payne, C.D. (2000). Guided reading: Making it work. New York: Scholastic.

Snowball, D., & Bolton, F. (1999). Spelling K-8: Planning and teaching. York, ME: Stenhouse.

Templeton, S. (2003). Spelling. In J. Flood, D. Lapp, J. Squire, & J. Jensen (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts (2nd ed., pp. 738-751). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Treiman, R., & Cassar, M. (1997). Spelling acquisition in English. In C.A. Perfetti, L. Rieben, & M. Fayol (Eds.), Learning to spell: Research, theory, and practice across languages (pp. 61-80). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds. & Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wertsch, J.V. (1998). Mind as action. New York: Oxford University Press.

Williams, C., & Hufnagel, K. (2005). The impact of word study instruction on kindergarten children's journal writing. Research in the Teaching of English, 39(3), 233-270.

Williams, C., & Lundstrom, R. (2007). Strategy instruction during word study and interactive writing activities. The Reading Teacher, 61(3), 204-212.

Williams, C., & Phillips-Birdsong, C. (2006). Word study instruction and second-grade children's independent writing. Journal of Literacy Research, 38(4), 427-465.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Word Study Instruction in the K-2 Classroom

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Word study is an approach to spelling instruction that moves away from a focus on memorization. The approach reflects what researchers have discovered about the alphabetic, pattern, and meaning layers of English orthography. This article describes nine tips for implementing a word study program in your classroom.

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How Spelling Supports Reading

American Educator Winter 2005/2006

Louisa C. Moats (2005/2006)

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The Importance of Spelling

By Susan Jones, M. Ed.

(2/2009)

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More specifically, word work!

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Introducing Daily 5

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Why is it important for students to have good spelling skills?

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Book:

The Daily 5:

Fostering Literacy Independence

In the Elementary Grades

Gale Boushey and Joan Moser (2006)

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Do you love teaching but feel exhausted from the energy you expend cajoling, disciplining, and directing students on a daily basis? If so, you'll want to meet "The Sisters," Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. Based on literacy learning and motivation research, they created a structure called The Daily Five which has been practiced and refined in their own classrooms for ten years, and shared with thousands of teachers throughout the United States. The Daily Five is a series of literacy tasks (reading to self, reading with someone, writing, word work, and listening to reading) 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 take place during the launching phase, preparing the foundation for a year of meaningful content instruction tailored to meet the needs of each child.

The Daily Five is more than a management system or a curriculum framework; it is a structure that will help students develop the habits that lead to a lifetime of independent literacy.

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Do you love teaching but feel exhausted from the energy you expend cajoling, disciplining, and directing students on a daily basis? If so, you'll want to meet "The Sisters," Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.

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Why spelling matters

Deborah K. Reed (2012)

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Daily 5 Collaboration Research

By JoAnne Celia-Duncan (2008)

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Investigating the effects of word work vs. traditional spelling

Jessica Radke (2011)

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Interview with Gale Boushey and Joan Moser

Liana Heitin (2012)

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Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, authors of The Cafe Book, discuss their system for catering to students' individual reading needs.
A conversation with Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, known to many educators as "The Sisters," will conjure far-flung thoughts of your favorite primary school teacher. They're cheery, energetic, and generous yet sincere with praise. The biological sisters are also self-described best friends.
Boushey and Moser have taught grades K-6, special education, and reading resource, totaling about 60 years of teaching experience between them. In 2006, they published The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades, which lays out a structure for getting students to read and write independently during a literacy block, freeing up the teacher for one-on-one conferences. The CAFE Book: Engaging all Students in Daily Literacy Assessment and Instruction, their 2009 follow-up, addresses the natural next question: What exactly should the teacher be doing during those individual conferences?

An acronym for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary, CAFE is a system designed to help teachers work methodically through literacy standards based on students' individual needs. Teachers introduce reading strategies to the whole class, then assess and guide the use of those strategies in small groups or individual conferences. CAFE is also a visual tool-students refer back to a large poster with the strategies listed, placing a sticky note with their name next to the one they're working on.

Since they began using the CAFE system in their own classrooms, Boushey and Moser say, their students have consistently averaged an astounding two and a half years of growth in reading per year. In fact, every single student they've taught, including those with the most challenging needs, has made at least one year of growth-and some have made as much as five years. It's no wonder the two, who are now literacy consultants, consistently sell out professional development workshops and have become must-see presenters at reading conferences across the country.

In an interview with the Teacher PD Sourcebook's Liana Heitin, Boushey and Moser discussed why their system works, how it changed their classroom culture, and the importance of staying faithful to the current reading research.
Can you describe the process of developing the CAFE system? How did you do this in a collaborative way?
Moser: In our own classrooms, it really started with "Daily 5." We knew we wanted to work with individuals and small groups of kids but we couldn't figure out what to do with the rest of the class. Once we figured out how to manage them, our kids were so independent that all of the sudden the dirty secret was, O.K., what are we teaching them? And how are we managing our assessments so that they really do inform our instruction?

Boushey: Before CAFE, we would assess and put the assessment away and go back into whatever teaching we were doing. CAFE really is a way to simplify our assessing, so that we can make it a guide for instruction.

Moser: And collaboration just has always come naturally for us. By the nature of our personalities, but also because we both were in the same spot with the same question. As a matter of fact, the first glimmer of CAFE came while we were on a family vacation, sitting around the kitchen table.
A concept that you emphasize in your book-and seem to have lived by in the classroom-is that "fair is not always equal." Can you explain why this is so central to your teaching and how it applies to reading instruction?
Moser: I think it stems from the beginning of our careers where we were given a resource that was one-size-fits-all. We had one basal anthology and we did mostly whole-group instruction. Everybody got the same thing. But one of the reasons we love this job so much is that students are all so different. And every single one of them has completely different needs. Some of our kids don't need to be met with one-on-one as often. In fact, some of the research shows that if you meet with them too much it's even more of a hindrance. With the use of Daily 5 and CAFE, we're able to really look at those kids and pinpoint: What are those next steps over the course of the next couple of weeks that we can support you with to help you move forward?
But somebody could argue that the kids you meet with less often, even if they're on par with the rest of the class, might not be excelling to their potential. How do you respond to that?
Moser: We think about Kelly Gallagher's book Readicide, where he talks about how we really want to let kids get into the reading flow, which is that uninterrupted time to read. We are by no means saying that we don't meet with those kids. But I look at somebody like Tiger Woods in golf-we don't want to coach him as much as we want to coach players like me and Gail. If we are doing too much coaching with him, we're going to interrupt his flow of the game, whereas I would need a coach side-by-side.

Boushey: Our goal every single day is to meet with three small groups and nine to 12 individuals. So when we say that we're not meeting with those accelerated kids, that means not every day. But it might be three times a week.
According to the book, the first reading strategy you teach each year is a comprehension one-"check for understanding." Why is that at the top of the priority list? Can you teach that before students are fluent readers?
Boushey: Yes, it's first and the reason is two-fold. We start with comprehension because if we don't comprehend, we're not reading. It's also really an easy strategy to teach because we teach it with our read-alouds. So whether kids are traditional readers or preschoolers, they can start that process of checking for understanding. It becomes an anchor for absolutely everything we do. We teach it whole-group with our first read-aloud.

Moser: If we wait until kids crack the code or become more fluent to talk about comprehension, we're really sunk. Because then we send the message to children that reading is just word calling, whereas reading is really all about comprehension. It's all about making meaning.
How often do you assess students' reading?
Moser: Every time we sit down and confer with a child, that line between assessment and instruction blurs. It's a constant cycle of asking, "Are they getting that? Is my instruction taking hold? If it is, how am I going to move them forward? If it's not, what am I going to do differently to help them?"

Boushey: We kind of laugh at each other when we hear about RTI [response to intervention] and progress monitoring because we truly have been doing this since CAFE came out. Every time we meet with a student, at the end of that we say to ourselves, "OK, did I meet the mark on that? Is my instruction working?"

We've come up with what we call "touchpoints," which are just a way to quantify the work we're doing and get a holistic score. For example, at the end of each conference or small group, we'll give a student a one, two, three, or four-below the standard, approaching, meeting, or exceeding. So at the end of two to three meeting times, if kids are still below standard, we have to change something. We have to change our instruction. Because if we keep teaching the same way that we're teaching, we're going to get the same results.
How do you decide when to re-teach the whole group rather than individual students? Is it when a percentage of the class isn't getting something?
Moser: When we look at going from small group to whole group, we've really changed our approach based on the most current research by Richard Allington. He says the largest a small group should be is two to three. So what we look at is, OK, if I've got more than two to three kids that need instruction on one of the strategies, do I want do two groups, do I want to do three groups, or is it so many kids that I'm going to teach it whole group? Would the majority of my kids benefit from that? We don't have an exact percentage.

Part of that is because we do short bursts of instruction. The rule of thumb from [education consultant] Dr. Ken Wesson is that the average number of years your children are in age is the average number of minutes they can maintain upper-level cortex thinking during direct instruction. Let's say you have mostly 8-year-olds. You have about eight minutes of direct instruction-whole-group, small-group, or one-on-one-where their brain function is in their upper-level cortex-where all of our higher-level thinking, all of our processing, and vocabulary development, and retention take place. So we don't have to worry about wasting 40 minutes of kids' time having them sit through instruction they may not need. The review is going to be in a short burst.
With the CAFE system, you're forthright with students about their assessment scores and weaknesses so that they know what to work on independently. How does this kind of transparency change a classroom?
Boushey: Before, we'd just say, you're reading at a 2.0 level, good luck and we'll see you next time. Now, we may talk about the reading level but the next step is digging deeper. If we want them to become a better reader we ask, "What are one or two strategies I could teach you in the next three weeks that would make you better at reading?" And once they're part of that discussion and part of that ownership, they feel so much more empowered.

And when you say here's a goal and strategy you can work on ... they're not in competition with each other to become a 2.5 reader, they're in competition to have more reading strategies so they can access any text.

Moser: It becomes a group of people working together to get better at reading. I found that it really becomes more like cheerleading. They spend a lot of time reading together and they celebrate each other's utilization of strategies. ... We hear that from people all over world, that CAFE changed their culture.
Can you explain why you made the change from using static small groups based on ability to using flexible small groups based on the strategies students are working on?
Boushey: I think the reason we used to do leveled groups was that was all we knew. We would assess kids and put them in those leveled groups. But Joan and I started thinking that when we pull kids in small groups who are reading at the same level, they still had a lot of differences. They might be reading at a 2.5, but one child needs comprehension, another one needs accuracy, another needs fluency, another needs vocabulary. So we started thinking, "How about if we just pulled them together by strategies?" That was not an easy thing.
That's scary for a lot of teachers.
Boushey: It's really scary. For us, it's about how to manage it. If I know how to manage it, I might be able to do it. We created this little six-block form. When we were assessing kids, we would just write down the goal and strategy of the child and put their name in the box. Sebastian is going to need the goal of comprehension, with the strategy of check for understanding. If I assess my next student, Amanda and she needs the same thing, I'm going to put her name in that same box. So by the time we're done assessing all our kids, we have a two-page form and we have now put kids into groups by the strategy they needed.

And whatever we're working on in a small group, we're working on the exact same strategy one-on-one. It goes back to the idea of "curricular coherence." RTI's been talking about this really a lot, too. We're wrapping around that child, we're not jumping from strategy to strategy. We're going to have laser-pointed vision on one or two strategies until we're ready to move onto another one.
The CAFE "menu" has 38 reading strategies (divided into the four categories) that you teach throughout the year. Would you recommend that teachers alter those strategies based on their state standards or the Common Core State Standards? Or should they stick with those strategies you've identified?
Boushey: We always say our strategies are not the end-all be-all. So if you have a program, if you have district requirements, whatever you're teaching the whole group, that's what gets posted on the board. We aligned our menu to the Washington state standards. The whole idea is to post the standards you're teaching so kids can see them.

Moser: In January we released the CAFE alignment to the common core on our website [ www.thedailycafe.com].
Other than your books, of course, what should literacy teachers be reading to stay up-to-date with their instruction?
Moser: We are constantly going to publishers-Stenhouse, Heinemann, Scholastic, etc.-which usually publish all the new reads twice a year. And we pour through that list of new books. What is it that it looks like we should be reading? We really talk a lot to teachers about building your toolkit, having read many different resources to put in that toolkit so you have a lot to draw from.

That said, we really think that everything written by Dick Allington, teachers need to read. [See " Responding to RTI," Spring/Summer 2010, for an interview with Allington.]

We tell teachers to get on listserves, get reading these things online. The Marshall Memo, for example. There are so many that are quick and easy to skim through.

And as silly as this sounds, we are right now running a brand new feature on our website about Twitter. There are huge communities on Twitter around elementary, around every grade level, around writing, around comprehension. My goal is to set aside 10 minutes a night and to flip through that day's posts. I am shocked at how much professional development I get from Twitter.

Vol. 05, Issue 02, Pages 28,30-32

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A conversation with Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, known to many educators as "The Sisters," will conjure far-flung thoughts of your favorite primary school teacher. They're cheery, energetic, and generous yet sincere with praise. The biological sisters are also self-described best friends.

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The Effects of the Daily 5

Jason Matthew LaShomb (2011)

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Higher Order Thinking Question:

What impact does Daily 5 have on students' understanding of spelling skills?

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Variables:

Independent (1):

Mrs. Bovee's Second Grade Students

Dependent (1+):

The students should increase their knowledge in spelling skills.

Control (5+): -

Students will pretest every Wednesday directly following Daily 5 time.

Students will take a final test every Friday.

Spelling assessment will take place at student desks in the classroom as a whole-class assessment.

Spelling assessment will primarily be administered by Terra Bovee, unless unforeseen circumstances occur.

Spelling assessments will be given in a paragraph format to show understanding of the spelling skills used in writing.