Top 5 Takeaways from The Daily 5: Second Edition

I recently read the new edition of The Daily 5 and discussed it with teachers at my school.  Even if you're not a Daily 5 kind of gal (or guy), there are some really great points in this book for your big picture teaching.

#4 is my favorite! My top 5 takeaways from The Daily 5.  It's more than just rotations.  This book is worth reading to understand the why and not just the what.

I read the first book about 10 years ago.  Does anybody remember ProTeacher.net?  Before there were blogs, ProTeacher.net was about all we had.  One summer, everyone was talking about this new book-The Daily 5.  I read it and immediately fell in love.

I nervously read the new version.  I was glad to see there weren’t any HUGE differences between the first and second book.  Having said that, I am very glad I read it because there were a few things that rocked my world a little bit.

I thought I’d share some bits that were powerful to my thinking as a reading teacher.  Even if you’re not ready to fully dive into The Daily 5, these are ideas that can challenge the way we think about our instructional time.

This is hands down probably the #1 reason the Daily 5 works so well.  Once kids are part of the process,  they feel like they have some involvement with the learning instead of just being told all of the time what to do.

Time to be honest-As a teacher, how much do you hate being given a schedule that tells you what time you HAVE to teach math, reading groups, social studies, etc.  Does it really matter if you do science then social studies?  Nope.

The same is true for our students.  Does it matter if they do word work before or after independent reading?  Nope.  It might be easier to manage it for them, but it's worth the effort to get your kids on board with their learning.  Kids on board=maximizing instruction.


I'm just going to stop for a moment and let that sink in.

To be honest, when I read the first book about ten years ago, I completely blew off the idea of mini lessons between rotations.  It seemed choppy and messed with my reading group flow.

Since that time and now having taught third and fourth grade, I realize my lessons were too darn long.  You know how kids start kind of rolling around or playing with their socks or they all need to go to the bathroom?  You can keep going, but the learning is done.

10 minutes.  That's all you've got.  So, a brain break or turn and talk or breaking your long lesson into several lessons may take time away from your instructional minutes.  BUT, if all they are getting is 10 minutes of your 20 minute lessons, it turns out as teachers we're wasting a lot of instructional time, too.


So, picture this: It's the first day of school in second grade.  1:00-1:20 is independent reading time.  So, at 1:00 we start reading.  They whole class lasts about two minutes (maybe), and then the staring at the ceiling, endless book shopping, and trips to the bathroom begin.  Sound familiar?

Turns out I was doing it ALL WRONG.  The concept of building stamina goes hand in hand with the sisters 10 steps to building independence.  You have to teach your students explicitly what to do, and then slowly (ever so painfully slowly) build them up.  In the beginning of the year, that 20 minutes is more likely to be 18 minutes of mini lesson, modeling, placing around the room, and checking in with 2 minutes of reading in there somewhere.

And that is a good thing.


What choice is to students, flexibility is to teachers.  I have used some mishmashed version of the Daily 5 for years.  It's looked different almost every year depending on what grade I was in, my students needs, and how my instruction has evolved over the years.


This was another big whoa moment for me.  Have I given my students time to practice and grow?  Or am I so busy trying to teach them all the things I think they need, that I don't give them enough time to apply it as readers and writers?

The best thing about summer for teachers is having time to read and reflect on these types of big pictures ideas.  Any of these strike a cord with you?