Integrating Daily 5 with Your Literacy Curriculum
I love the Daily 5.
I love everything about it…
I love that it fosters responsibility in my students.
I love that it builds my students' stamina to complete tasks.
AND… I LOVE that I can get to all of my reading groups.
These are all things, that when I talk with teachers about how I’ve been able to harness the power of the Daily 5 during my literacy block, other teachers are excited about as well. But, no matter how excited teachers are about implementing the Daily 5 into their classroom, they always seem to have the same question…
How do I integrate the Daily 5 with my district’s mandatory literacy curriculum?
The Challenge of Daily 5 in Structured Literacy Programs
Before diving in any further, the first point I need to make is that the Daily 5 structure is just that… a structure.
By no means does the Daily 5 tell us what to teach.
It provides us with a framework for how to structure our instruction so that we can get in all of the elements of an effective literacy lesson.
However, many teachers with mandated curriculums often dismiss the possibility of incorporating the Daily 5 into their classroom, believing it doesn't align with the strict curriculum requirements they must follow.
That can’t be further from the truth!
In all of the grades I’ve taught - Kindergarten, first grade, and fifth grade, I’ve had mandatory curriculums that I had to follow. And, for all of those grade levels, I’ve been able to use the Daily 5 framework while still maintaining the integrity of the purchased curriculums.
But here’s the biggest change I experienced integrating the Daily 5 with my district’s literacy curriculum…I didn’t feel rushed to “get it all in.” So many parts of purchased curriculums can make it feel impossible to squeeze everything into the time allotted for literacy instruction—especially when the lessons are too long for our littlest learners. But with the Daily 5, I felt more in control of my time, and I was able to use it more effectively—for both myself and my students. It was a win-win!
Integrating Daily 5 into Your Literacy Block
Integrating the Daily 5 with my district’s literacy curriculum felt a bit like putting a puzzle together.
While I had all of the pieces that I needed for a well-structured literacy lesson, figuring out how to piece it all together - effectively and efficiently - into the framework took a bit of work.
And honestly, this is where most teachers get stuck
But let me tell you, friend, it CAN be done - easily
Here are some things that I learned along the way that took the mystery out of integrating my district’s curriculum with the Daily 5.
Aligning Daily Lessons with the Daily 5 Framework
As a teacher, it’s important to make sure that all of our students have access to core instruction - and with the Daily 5 framework, you have a couple of options.
When integrating your district's curriculum and the Daily 5, you could choose to teach that day’s lesson as a whole group mini-lesson (keeping it to about 15 to 20 minutes) and then use stations as an opportunity for students to independently practice what you taught during the mini-lesson.
Or, instead of teaching the mini-lesson whole group, you could choose to teach the lesson during small group. This would allow you to customize the lesson to the varying needs of your students while still upholding the learning outcome of that lesson.
Connecting Book Clubs with Content Themes
My favorite part of the Daily 5 is Book Club.
That time is so important because I get to know my students so much better as both a learner and as a person.
Another reason that I love Book Club is that I can take the unit themes and go even deeper through strategic, thematic book choices.
For example, the literacy curriculum that my district uses is Benchmark.
One of the units in that curriculum focuses on survival, so for that unit, one of my small groups read the book Hatchet due to its survival themes.
Tying thematic books into Book Club provides an additional opportunity to deepen students’ understanding by building background knowledge and making connections, helping them master the curriculum content.
Integrating Writing Curriculum with the Daily 5
“But Molly…what about writing?”
First - I need to make it clear that the Work on Writing station during the Daily 5 is NOT a replacement for writing instruction. Our students still need time to be explicitly taught how to be proficient writers.
Instead, the Work on Writing station is a creative writing time.
BUT, that doesn’t mean that you can’t bring it back to the curriculum!
I found that having prompts for my students to use during Work on Writing was important - without them, students just didn’t seem to know what to do. You could choose to provide writing prompts to students that connect back to themes or big ideas in the curriculum.
Another activity my students, especially my 5th graders, enjoyed was using the Work on Writing station to continue working on assigned writing tasks from our writing lessons.
Integration Through Effective Daily 5 Schedules
Integrating your district’s curriculum with the Daily 5 framework is an amazing way to level up your instruction and get the most out of your literacy block.
To help you with your planning, I’ve put together this FREE lesson planning template to be your guide as you plan out lessons for your literacy block.
Strategies to Transform Your Literacy Block
Still curious about ways to get the most out of your literacy block?
Check out my free 10-step guide!
In it, you’ll learn 10 things you can do right now that will immediately improve your literacy block!