- Joseph T. Donahue School (3-4)
- The Daily 5 - ELA
O'Sullivan, E (4th Gr)
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Parent Letter
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to a new school year! I hope you had a wonderful summer and
enjoyed spending quality time with your child. I know that each year of
your child’s schooling presents new expectations and routines for you
and your child to become familiar with. This year I will be introducing
classroom routines and structure in a way that removes all of the
guesswork from the child and allows them to concentrate fully on
learning. In reading, the classroom structure I use is called the Daily 5.
Soon your child will be talking about the Daily 5 at home. The purpose of
this letter is to explain to you what the Daily 5 is and what you should
expect to see at home.
The Daily 5 is a literacy structure that teaches independence and gives
children the skills to grow as readers to create a lifetime love of reading
and writing. It consists of five tasks that are introduced individually. When
introduced to each task, the children discuss what it looks like, sounds
like, and feels like to engage in the task independently. Then, the children
work on building their stamina until they are successful at being
independent while doing that task.
These are the five tasks:Read to Self
Read to Someone
Listen to Reading
Word Work
Work on Writing
When all five tasks have been introduced and the children are fully
engaged in reading and writing, I am able to work with small groups and
confer with children one-on-one. This structure is effective, the results are
proven, and the children look forward to Daily 5 time.
One thing you may notice is a decrease in the number of worksheets your
child brings home. There is no research that indicates doing worksheets
improves students’ reading and writing. Instead classtime is focused on
what research does show improves students’ reading and writing
abilities: the Daily 5.
Ask your child about Daily 5 and Math Daily 3, and see what they have to
say. I anticipate your child will tell you about the class stamina, how we
are working toward independence, and maybe even about some of the
fantastic things your child has written, read, or listened to during our Daily
5 time. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Thank you for your continued support!