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  • Caitlyn Dicks, second grade teacher at Stocks Elementary, reads to her students in their gathering spot in her classroom. One of the five key strategies for The Daily Five teaching method is to listen to someone else read. The Daily Southerner

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September 17, 2012

‘The Daily Five’ addresses reading improvement

The Daily Southerner STAFF AND SUBMITTED

TARBORO — Improving students’ reading levels is a primary goal in Edgecombe County Public Schools (ECPS) this year. To achieve this goal, ECPS teachers have been using The Daily Five method.

The framework of the program sets the structure for guided reading. As part of The Daily Five, students meet in a common “gathering spot” where they discuss impending activities before breaking to participate in independent, group or partner work. The Daily Five improves literacy through five focused tasks: Read to Self, Read to Someone Else, Listen to Someone Read, Written Work and Word Work.

Students also learn to choose “Good Fit” books at the library, or in the classroom using the “I Pick” technique, an acronym for “I look at the book, Purpose, Interest, Comprehend and Know All the Words.” The books are chosen at the child’s level, but are a bit of a challenge without requiring much reading comprehension assistance from teachers. Students also maintain book boxes where they keep the books they’ve either been assigned or chose themselves along with their personal journals or other activities on which they are currently working.

"Daily Five is a wonderful program that not only helps with classroom management but holds the students accountable for becoming better readers and writers,” said Caitlyn Dicks, second grade teacher at Stocks Elementary. “The students love having the opportunity to choose the types of books they want to read! It puts a smile on my face knowing that they are taking ownership in their learning and are enjoying what they read."

The Daily Five started at ECPS when small cohort groups from each elementary school volunteered to model the program in their school after receiving training in the fall of 2011. The program rapidly spread throughout the schools as teachers observed the success in the classrooms of the cohort groups. Sisters Gail Boushey and Joan Moser created The Daily Five teaching method.

“Where has Daily Five been all of my teaching career?” asked Carver Elementary fifth grade teacher Wanda O’Neal. “I am loving it and so are my students! We are up to 18 minutes during Read to Self and they are begging for more! I am amazed at how focused and on task they are.”

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