How to Make the Daily 5 Work in Your Fifth-Grade Classroom: Tips for Implementation Success
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Autonomy is so important to my fifth graders.
Any choice or feeling of decision-making power they have, the easier it is to engage and create “buy-in” for tasks.
But providing opportunities for student voice and choice is tricky! There sometimes just really isn’t opportunities to provide choice OR it creates a prepping and planning NIGHTMARE!
Implementing the Daily 5 into my fifth-grade literacy block changed that!
I’ll be honest, when I switched from first grade to fifth grade, I was a bit skeptical about bringing my Daily 5 practices along with me.
Would it fit with the fifth-grade curriculum?
Would it seem to “babyish”?
Would my fifth graders not buy into it?
Honestly, implementing the Daily 5 into my fifth-grade classroom was the BEST decision! It gave opportunities for students to have voice and choice in their day, it provided opportunities for independent learning while keeping students accountable for the content.
It was a win-win! But I needed to be considerate of the age of the students that I was working with and make a few adjustments to keep my students engaged.
The Challenge of Using the Daily 5 in Upper Elementary
The most common challenges with implementing the Daily 5 in fifth grade that teachers ask me about come down to two things: increased curricular demands and student engagement.
And honestly, those two things ALMOST kept me from starting the Daily 5 when I switched to fifth grade.
By the time students get to fifth grade, the themes and overall literacy demands increase, which can make incorporating a structure other than whole-group instruction seem near impossible. I mean, how else are you supposed to get it ALL in?
But that’s exactly WHY upper elementary students need the Daily 5.
The Daily 5 framework is a way to structure your literacy block by utilizing centers to engage students all with the greater purpose of giving the teacher time to pull small groups - uninterrupted.
Generally, these five Daily 5 components are included:
Read to Self
Work on Writing
Read to Someone
Word Work
Listen to Reading
These five centers - in combination with time for consistent small group instruction - allow for a stress-free, organized way to make sure that you’re able to “get it all in” in a meaningful way. In addition, the structure of centers and small group instruction (which I call “Book Club”) provides time for differentiation, which can be a challenge to incorporate as students get older.
How to Effectively Implement the Daily 5 in a Fifth-Grade Classroom
When it comes to effectively implementing the Daily 5 in fifth grade, teachers need to consider what is developmentally appropriate for this age of students.
Accommodating this age group of students can be tricky…
They are likely the oldest students in the building, so it’s easy to give upper elementary students more responsibilities and choices than they are ready for, which can lead to disaster.
It took some careful consideration, but I was able to make appropriate updates to how I ran Daily 5 in my first-grade classroom to make it the FAVORITE part of the day for my fifth graders.
Establishing Age-Appropriate Routines and Expectations
The most important component to creating an efficient, stress-free literacy block using the Daily 5 framework is making sure routines and expectations are on point.
Students need to have clear and concise expectations that you uphold consistently.
When it comes to getting started implementing the Daily 5 in your fifth-grade classroom, it’s important to remember to take the time to model, practice, and master expectations for each of the Daily 5 centers. Often, with upper elementary students, we tell ourselves “They’ve heard all this before” or “They should know this by now”, causing teachers to skip explicitly teaching expectations.
DO NOT skip this step! Your sanity will thank me later
Because upper elementary students are more independent than our youngest learners, consider routines and expectations that are age-appropriate and that emphasize independence.
Also, consider instruction and support in teaching self-management skills. I love using stamina-building charts for this because they make the skill of working independently “visible” and offer great opportunities for reflection and discussion when teaching self-management skills to my fifth graders.
Integrating Fifth-Grade Curriculum Standards and Differentiation
There is A LOT of curriculum to cover in fifth grade.
With so much content to cover and the rigor of the standards increasing, finding time to fit it all in without rushing through it or not providing time for remediation can feel daunting. It can feel like your only option is whole-group instruction.
Nope! You’ve got options friend!
When you implement the Daily 5 in your fifth-grade classroom, you’re adopting a structure that allows you to maximize your precious time, allowing you to “get it all in” including that independent practice that you just never do because you don’t have the time.
In addition to maximizing your time, by bringing the Daily 5 into your upper elementary classroom, you’re creating built-in opportunities for differentiation and remediation. Since students are working independently, you can easily adjust learning tasks by providing tiered reading materials or varying writing prompts by difficulty level.
Maintaining Engagement and Variety in Daily 5 Activities
Keeping fifth graders engaged is a bit of a work of art.
To keep my students engaged, I found I needed to include one of these three things:
Technology
Choice
Relatability
Providing choice during Work on Writing was an easy place to start. Every day, I provide my students with three writing prompts that they can choose from (this has been a game-changer for my most reluctant writers). Sometimes these relate to a holiday or special event that’s happening, or sometimes they are just silly or thought-provoking.
I’m also very strategic about the books that I choose for book clubs. I try to choose books that connect with the curriculum and also are relatable. I know, that sounds easier than it really is, which is why I’ve created a list of my favorite Book Club books that you can check out HERE.
Okay…let’s talk about technology.
Engagement tool or distraction device? It’s a little of both. Which is why when I introduce my students to Listen to Reading or give them an activity to do on their iPads, I explicitly explain my expectations and uphold them - with no exceptions. And I always have my expectations posted around the room as a reminder of what they should or shouldn’t be doing.
Tools for Implementing the Daily 5 in the Fifth-Grade Classroom
Implementing the Daily 5 in my fifth-grade classroom was the BEST thing I did for my fifth-graders!
This flexible framework not only provided the opportunity to foster independence in my students, it also was a powerful tool to build and strengthen essential literacy skills.
Here are a couple of things that made implementing the Daily 5 in my fifth-grade classroom a breeze:
Posting rotations on the smart board so students could move from center to center independently.
Having expectations for each of the centers visible as a reminder about routines and expectations.
Using stamina-building charts when introducing centers.
Having a plan for Work on Writing (believe me, telling them to just “go write” was a disaster!)
And you can get all of these (and more) implementation solutions in my Daily 5 Toolkit!
Strategies to Instantly Improve Your Upper Elementary Literacy Block
I’m always looking for little tips and tricks to maximize my literacy block, which is why I’ve put all of my 10 favorite, easy-to-implement strategies into one easy-to-access location!
Click the link below to download my 10 Steps to Transform Your Literacy Block!