This is the first part of my series devoted to how you can make Daily 5 work for 4th graders.
It was about 3 years ago when I discovered Daily 5 by following the blog of a teacher who I thought was just amazing (and she still is). Blogging wasn't "all the rage" back then, and Pinterest wasn't even created (think of all the free time you had back then!). I was excited to discover a teacher who could elevate me from just a solid, textbook oriented teacher to a teacher full of new ideas and innovative ways to teach valuable material to my students.
One of the books that this teacher kept referencing was the CAFE, and I kept thinking..."What is that?" After some Google work, I discovered what it was, and I was then led to The Daily 5, both books written by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. I bought the books and dove in head-first, eager to change my style and be "this" type of teacher.
I quietly integrated The Daily 5 into my classroom in my 3rd year of teaching, and then by my 4th and 5th years I was singing its praises to anyone who would listen. The other elementaries in our corporation also began reading the books and observing other schools who used the methods, and before we knew it...Daily 5 was happening in numerous classrooms in our school system.
This made me really happy, but I was also met with resistance from colleagues who didn't know how meaningful it could be to upper elementary students. To their credit, the books and videos did seem a little young for our age groups, and they were right to be skeptical. Without seeing it in action, it was difficult for the intermediate teachers to jump on the band wagon.
One of the aspects of Daily 5 that the intermediate teachers struggled with was Word Work. Many teachers don't like the idea of students "playing" with items and doing what seems to be mindless practice on spelling words-- and how important are spelling words anyway? With our time being allotted mostly to reading and math, it was difficult to see the importance of making time for Word Work.
I continued to keep Word Work in my rotation because I wanted the students to have a hands-on component to their learning, and I do believe that spelling, vocabulary, and sight words are important. I also hate worksheets with a flaming passion, so if this is way for the students to practice those word groups without writing the word 100 times each, then sign me up.
The important thing is creating age-level appropriate activities for the students, giving them choices, and making sure that the kids aren't "playing" with the items and are actually working. There are ALWAYS going to be students at every grade level who will want to fiddle around with the items instead of use them effectively, but it is up to the teacher to make sure that child knows what is right and what is wrong.
My Word Work activities have varied slightly over the years, and I have some ideas for new activities for this year. I will start with listing and describing what I did this year. Beneath each activity, I will discuss any adaptations I am going to make to the activity or if I am going to scrap it all together.
1. Magnetic ABC Letters: Purchased from Target Dollar Spot-- Students use my chalkboard to spell out words.
{This is a popular activity. What I will change this year is I plan to buy a couple of inexpensive magnetic cookie sheets and the students can take the letters back to their desks and put them on the cookie sheets. Being in the front of the classroom on the chalkboard creates a lot of noise with the plastic letters and other students tend to watch the students using this activity too much. Also, you inevitably get a finger nail scratch on the board...AHHHHH!}
2. Play Doh Words: I buy one large variety pack at the beginning of the year and it lasts the whole year through-- Students roll Play Doh into "worms" and create letters/words out of them.
{This one was not as popular this year as it has been in years past. Instead of creating "worms" first for the letters, I am going to show the students how to flatten the Play Doh into a sheet and then I will include a plastic tool for engraving the words into the Play Doh. The rolling into "worms" wasted a lot of time, and some students only got through a couple words before time was up.}
3. Clip Words: Buy the wooden clothespins from the laundry section at Target & popsicle sticks-- I write a letter on each clothespin and then the students clip the letters to the popsicle sticks to spell words.
{This activity was just OK to me. I think what I will do this year is set up in the corner of the room an actual clothesline where the students can clip the clothespins to the line. I may even combine the ABC cards activity with this one and have the students clip the ABC cards on the clothesline with the clothespins.}
4. Picture Words: Use the Picture Words Activity Sheet-- Students draw a picture in each box to represent a word.
{This was always popular, and it least it was easy to supply because it was just a computer print out! I am going to be marking activities as "Vocabulary Only" for our reading vocabulary words, and this one will be one of those activities. Drawing pictures for words helps with understanding meaning, but not necessarily for understanding spelling.}
5. Flashcards: Students have their own lined 3x5 index cards-- Students write the word on the front and the definition on the back. They can keep these for practice throughout the week.
{This will be one of those "Vocabulary Only" activities.}
6. ABC Beads: I used small ABC beads from the jewelry section and pipe cleaners-- Students string ABC beads on the pipe cleaners to spell words.
{The pipe cleaners, after repeated use, began to fray. I am thinking of putting this activity into rotation only as a special activity and using elastic bead string.}
7. Dry Erase Boards: Students write spelling words on my small dry erase boards.
{This was definitely a popular station. Students would race to get one of my 10 boards. I think this year, I will laminate pieces of white card stock and use them as dry erase boards for this activity. My dry erase boards are pretty nice and they showed some wear when students wouldn't erase their markers all the way.}
8. ABC Cards: I used colored index cards to write one large letter on each-- Students spell the words letter by letter out on the floor or at the desk.
{See above on #3}
9. Pasta Words: Buy the elbow, bow tie, and rotini pasta-- Students use the pasta to spell out words.
{This is another activity that was really popular a couple years ago, but students didn't seem to into it this year. I think this will be a special rotation activity, too.}
As you can see, I have a lot of changes I would like to make to my activities. Of course, these activities will be all new to my new students, but I am also ready for a change. I have always wondered if it was best to have a wide variety of activities or if I should limit it to keep the choosing and the management to a minimum. I think I will start this year with 6 "permanent" activities that are there all the time, and then I will have one extra "special rotation" activity every week or two that either incorporates a seasonal component for the holidays or uses some of the special manipulatives like the beads, Play Doh, or pasta. The kids would probably be more excited and motivated if they could have something "new" every now and then.
I have pinned several activities on my Pinterest board that I am wanting to try this year, including Scrabble, keyboarding, sand boxes, texture writing, and many others. I will do anything to keep my kids motivated and excited about learning!
I will be back to add {Part Two} of my Daily 5 for 4th series, which will be Writing!
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