First Quarter, already over?

I can't believe that First Quarter has ended so quickly and we are fast approaching the holiday season! Second Graders have acquired so many new skills already! Every day the students amaze me as they become better readers, writers, spellers, thinkers, and mathematicians in Room 7.

As we enter Second Quarter, new challenges lay ahead. It is easy to become frustrated with the demanding tasks that are asked of your child. If you notice your child getting frustrated at home during homework, reading, etc. take a moment to engage them in a conversation about their feelings and thoughts on the task at hand to determine what exactly has them frustrated. I know my daughter sometimes just simply needs a break from the particular assignment she is working on. After 10-15 minutes of something fun and neutral she is ready to refocus and get down to business again. I take this into consideration in the classroom environment as well when giving assignments. I gradually release the students to maximize their success as a learner. I model for the students; allow them to do partner work as well as individual practice time before holding them responsible individually.

While I don't want your child to become frustrated, it is a good thing to be challenged, it stimulates their mind and forces them to really think about the problem in Math or the story that they are reading. The joy and success they feel after working through the problem is motivation for them to do it again.

Let's talk about Daily 5. What is it? What does it look like? I recommend you check out the website, http://www.the2sisters.com/the_daily_5.html  for the basic information on this subject.
In our classroom Daily 5 is used during the Guided Reading block. I work with a small group of students on specific reading skills and strategies while the other students are involved in a Daily 5 task. They have a schedule taped to their desk that details what task to focus on for each session each day of the week. Please feel free to look at it on their desk at conferences next week. For example students can be completing a number of tasks in 5 different areas (The Daily 5): Read to Self, Read to a Buddy, Listen To Reading, Word Work, and Writing. Ask your child about the tasks for each component.

Each student has their own Daily 5 journal in order to keep track of their task completion. I collect the journals on Fridays and take a Daily 5 grade to hold students accountable and responsible for learning during that time-frame. It is not enough to have students do independent reading. They must be gaining something from the experience. I have different journal response sheets and reflections that students work on after Read to Self, Read to a Buddy, or Listen To Reading. For Word Work,  students complete spelling tasks in their Reading Journals. In Writing, students practice handwriting, grammar, and following a set of directions to complete an illustration and write about it.

Now I know what you're thinking: How can they possibly know how to do this? Well, it's quite impressive to watch in action! We spent the first month and a half of school practicing it each and every day. Students practiced going to a Daily 5 spot, learning how to choose an activity, and what to do if problems arise. Additionally, we begin each Monday by reviewing the expectations for Daily 5 and showing examples of great student responses and work from the previous week. All journal responses are tasks that students have completed in class already prior to becoming an expectation in Daily 5.

I hope that this will answer some of your questions about how Daily 5 works and looks. If you have any further questions, please let me know. I'm happy to address them. Again, here is the link for information on Daily 5: http://www.the2sisters.com/the_daily_5.html

I look forward to seeing all of you at conferences this week :)