Thanks for the comment. I really appreciate your question…it is good food for thought.

I think the Daily Five is a structure or system used to implement a balanced literacy program. I would say that it is a “structure” or “system” because the instruction and management are so closely tied together. The system is based on research in the field of literacy and motivation and grounded in practice developed over years of teaching. If you are familiar with other balanced-literacy program, you will undoubtedly see familiar pieces in the Daily Five.

Having said that, the approach is very learner-centered and learner-empowering. It is learner-empowering I think, in that it helps students become more aware and in charge of their own learning preferences, strengths, challenges, and choices when it comes to learning to read. I don’t know if I would place it in any of the three camps you mentioned, but if I had to pick, I would think that it might fit more closely within the Progressive camp that the other two. [Though I wonder if a classroom centered around current learning and motivation research is Progressive...shouldn't it just be what everyone is doing now...?] While I think adding “social justice literature” would add another dimension of learning and awareness to the students, it seems that just adding a certain type of literature wouldn’t be enough to call it Critical pedagogy. Perhaps it would be a step in that direction…

What do you think? I’d love to hear more from you Scott, or others!
Matt

I am happy to share some resources with you. First, make sure to (1) read the Daily 5 and Daily Cafe books. There were extremely helpful and definitely one of those “written by a teacher, for a teacher” resources, (2) check out the Daily Cafe website. It has a lot of articles, videos, and other resources that are extremely helpful. The website also has several DVDs you can purchase (They are quite expensive though), (3) watch this blog as I plan to publish several more posts regarding my experience, classroom set-up, etc. about the Daily Five, (4) check out my classroom website 37Stars for some more informtion, (5) use the contact form to shoot me an email with some contact information and I am happy to talk with you directly.

In general, I loved the philosophy and approach of the Daily Five. I will say that in order to maximize the program you must really take your time with the students at the beginning going setting up the expectations and procedures. It may seem like it will take forever, but the more time you take to practice and build stamina with high expectations, the smoother the year will go. At times, it can seem like you are wasting time or “behind” other teachers, but once your students are plugged in, you can really fly. It is definitely one of those “go slow [now], to go fast [later]” things. I have seen teachers not take the necessary time to engage students in building stamina and I doubt (based on observation) that students are learning much of anything.

Thanks for the comment,
Matt

I enjoyed reading about how you’re working this program into your classroom. My question is: From which “camp” does this program fall into? Traditional, Progressive or Critical? It seems to me that it sits firmly in the Progressive pedagogy camp. Any thoughts?

Also, if we were to turn this into a Critical pedagogy, then would it be as simple as adding social justice literature?

Thanks for any clarification – Scott

When I found the Daily Cafe, I thought it was a perfect fit for my beliefs in a child centered, comfortable classroom. It has worked great and several other teachers around my school have started using it as well. With 33 students it was hard to consistently work with all the students, but it did help create a more personalized, humane environment that both the kids and I really enjoyed.

Matt