Then I had the opportunity to attend a Daily 5 conference with the authors, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (also known as "the sisters"). At the conference, I learned several strategies for implementing the Daily 5 in any classroom and have since had great success using it with my upper elementary students.
The Daily 5 book does a great job of explaining how to train your students, and I highly recommend reading the book before starting the program in your classroom. In chapter 2, entitled "From Management to Principled Habits," it explains the process of slowly introducing new stations and activities, modeling what everything should look like, and giving students time to practice. Teachers are given so much to do and teach, it can be difficult to move slowly and give students time to practice basic skills, such as quietly reading a book to themselves. However, spending a few weeks at the beginning of the school year to practice each station and activity is vital to the success of Daily 5.
At the beginning of the school year, I introduce each of my three stations: "Read to Self," "Word Work," and "Work on Writing." It usually takes about two weeks of practicing each station.
A system I have developed for managing my classroom while still giving students the freedom they desire involves having students create their schedules for the day as soon as they enter my classroom. Each student has three name cards that I attach to the board with magnets. Each card has their name and the number 1, 2, or 3.
Next to the magnets, the board is divided into three sections using colorful tape. The sections are labeled with the names of each station. When students enter the room they know to immediately move their name tags to each of the station columns. Each student should have one name tag in each column and the numbers on their name tags correspond with the order they will complete their rotations that day. This gives the students some accountability and allows me to quickly know what each student is working on. It also makes taking attendance easy.
When I was first introduced to Daily 5, I thought it was best suited for primary grades. But, the Daily 5 conference taught me that it can be tremendously fun and successful for upper elementary and middle school students as well. If you are not already using Daily 5 in your upper elementary or middle school classroom, I highly recommend you give it a try this year!
Adapt to Meet the Needs of the Class
Often, when a new curriculum is rolled out in education, there is a set way to implement it and little room to deviate. One of the first things I learned at the Daily 5 conference is that there is no set way to implement this ELA program. The authors of Daily 5 are teachers, too. They understand that a model may not work the same way for every classroom. The system they have created allows teachers to take their ideas and adapt them to meet the needs of individual students.
One of the biggest ways I have adapted Daily 5 for my classroom is by changing it to the Daily 3. "Read to Someone" and "Listen to Reading" were created to help students develop their fluency, a skill many of my 4th- and 5th-grade students have already mastered. Adapting to the Daily 3 for upper elementary students was also encouraged at the conference.
I prefer to have my older students spend time on activities that build their comprehension and writing skills. So, in my classroom, we only use the rotations "Read to Self," "Word Work," and "Work on Writing." Cutting it down to only three rotations a day gives my students more time to focus on the skills most important to their age and development. I explain more about how I implement these three rotations in this resource.
Training Students is Key
I have been asked to help other teachers start Daily 5 in their classrooms. One of the biggest mistakes I see newbies make is trying to roll out all their stations and activities at once. The Daily 5 model gives students a lot of freedom. If we do not take the time to ensure they understand how everything operates and what is expected, it will quickly turn to chaos.
The Daily 5 book does a great job of explaining how to train your students, and I highly recommend reading the book before starting the program in your classroom. In chapter 2, entitled "From Management to Principled Habits," it explains the process of slowly introducing new stations and activities, modeling what everything should look like, and giving students time to practice. Teachers are given so much to do and teach, it can be difficult to move slowly and give students time to practice basic skills, such as quietly reading a book to themselves. However, spending a few weeks at the beginning of the school year to practice each station and activity is vital to the success of Daily 5.
At the beginning of the school year, I introduce each of my three stations: "Read to Self," "Word Work," and "Work on Writing." It usually takes about two weeks of practicing each station.
For stations with multiple activities to choose from, such as Word Work, I only give students two at the start of the year. Once I feel they have mastered those activities, I add a third activity. I continue this process throughout the year until the Word Work station has all 20 activities that I use. These Word Work activities can be found in the link to my Word Work & Work on Writing for Upper Elementary & Middle School Bundle.
Encourage Organized Freedom
One reason students tend to enjoy Daily 5 is that they are given so much freedom. They love being able to decide which book they will read, which activities they will complete, and which skill they need to work on. But there needs to be some degree of organization so that students can be held accountable.
A system I have developed for managing my classroom while still giving students the freedom they desire involves having students create their schedules for the day as soon as they enter my classroom. Each student has three name cards that I attach to the board with magnets. Each card has their name and the number 1, 2, or 3.
Next to the magnets, the board is divided into three sections using colorful tape. The sections are labeled with the names of each station. When students enter the room they know to immediately move their name tags to each of the station columns. Each student should have one name tag in each column and the numbers on their name tags correspond with the order they will complete their rotations that day. This gives the students some accountability and allows me to quickly know what each student is working on. It also makes taking attendance easy.
In this example, Jenna will do Read to Self first. During the second rotation, she will do Working on Writing. Finally, she will do Word Work.
Make Sure Station Activities are Challenging and Appropriate
A huge mistake teachers make when creating their ELA stations is using the same station activities for primary, upper elementary, and middle school students. Students cannot have the same activities because primary, upper elementary, and middle school students are learning different skills.
When developing activities for upper elementary and middle school, it is important to create challenges. If the activities are too simple, older students will not learn, and you will begin to see behavior issues. I have compiled all of my Word Work and Work on Writing activities, posters, and setup suggestions in the following bundle.
And, if you are looking for even more tips and strategies for using Daily 5 in upper elementary, make sure to check out my other blog post Daily 5 Activities for Upper Elementary. It shares more strategies for getting started and lists specific activities you can use at each station.
Looking for more resources and ideas to use in your upper elementary or middle school classroom? Be sure to sign up for my newsletter. When you sign up, you will be given access to my FREE Ultimate Guide on How to Effectively Use Technology to Teach.
Looking for more resources and ideas to use in your upper elementary or middle school classroom? Be sure to sign up for my newsletter. When you sign up, you will be given access to my FREE Ultimate Guide on How to Effectively Use Technology to Teach.
Daily 5® is a trademark of Educational Design, LLC. This blog post is not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or Educational Design, LLC.