How to Use Daily 5 in Fifth Grade
Learn the EASY way to implement Daily 5 in fifth grade
Daily 5 isn't just for early elementary students! I've been using Daily 5 in my fifth grade classroom for several weeks now and have made some keen observations. Tune in to see how Daily 5 can benefit your upper elementary students!
Daily 5 is an amazing tool to structure your reading block
Daily 5 is how you structure your literacy block, not the instruction
The cool thing is whether you've taught kindergarten all the way to fifth grade, Daily 5 structure is going to be similar across the grade levels. The activities are going to change depending on the grade level you teach. I want to reiterate that Daily 5 is the structure of your literacy block, not the instruction. I feel it’s important to differentiate that because a few people on Teacher TikTok have commented about the Science of Reading and Daily 5 has nothing to do with that. I like to think of Daily 5 as an effective way to manage your classroom while being able to get to all of your guided reading groups.
My fifth grade class LOVES the Daily 5
When I switched to 5th grade I knew I wanted to keep using Daily 5 and my student’s love it
When I switched to fifth grade from first grade, one thing I knew I absolutely wanted to keep the same was using Daily 5. My fifth graders absolutely love doing Daily 5. It turns out that only one teacher last year was doing it in the fourth grade and so many of my students didn't get the opportunity to do it. I've asked them recently what they love about it and they love having a choice. They also love switching activities and not doing the same thing for the entire time. Many of them have told me getting to meet with me and a small group for guided reading has been their favorite part of Daily 5. They feel like that's one of the most fun parts because we're reading something together. Getting to rotate stations independently is engaging, and the rotations make it so that they're not bored during that time.
There are 5 rotations during Daily 5
The five rotations my students do each day are: Read to Self, Work on Writing, Word Work, Listen to Reading and Book Club
The five choices, which I have talked about in other YouTube videos, need to stay consistent throughout the week. The choices are: Read to Self, Work on Writing, Word Work, Listen to Reading and Book Club. You can make the choices different depending on your own class. That’s what I love about the Daily 5 is the ability to customize it to your students’ needs.
The Daily 5 Choice Board saves 10 minutes of instruction PER day!
Using the Daily 5 Choice Board on the Smart Board has been transformational
A few years ago, I got frustrated with calling my students back to the carpet every time we switched Daily 5 stations. I created the Daily 5 Choice Board for the Smartboard and trained my students (then kindergartners) how to rotate stations based on color instead of coming to the carpet and calling the choices off one by one. I recently did a time comparison to show the difference between doing Daily 5 the old way where you call the kids back to the carpet every choice versus the new way that I created on the Smartboard. My results? I found out it saves you anywhere from five to 10 minutes of instruction time per day. Add that up over the week, we're looking at an hour's worth of instructional time that you'd be losing. I guarantee you’ll love the Daily 5 Choice Board which is available in Excel AND Google!
Daily 5 stations last 15-20 minutes on average
Each station lasts 15-20 minutes
My students absolutely love the independence they get. We go over the expectations every day, which is another chart that I have for you already created. If I have anybody that's not following them, then they have been warned, and then they will either miss out on something later. I would say 99% of the time my students are doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing because they know the expectations and they're very clear on what they're supposed to do. Keeping your stations 15-20 minutes long works well for all ages and also keeps them engaged on what they’re working on.
Daily 5 in fifth grade is a game changer if you’re ready to get to all your reading groups, successfully teach Word Work and feel like your students are independently working on tasks.
Grab the free guide now!
If you’re looking to transform your literacy block to grow more independent learners and finally get to all your reading groups on a daily basis, grab my FREE 10 step guide to walk you through the first 10 steps to transform your classroom.