During the 2008-2009 school year, I began using The Sisters’ (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) process of teaching balanced literacy to my fourth grade students: Daily Five Reading and Literacy CAFE. Periodically I will post information, videos, or examples of how I am implementing this balanced literacy structure.

One the keys to success with Daily Five is helping students learn, understand, and practice the Daily Five procedures and routines quickly and efficiently. In my classroom I spend a lot of time having my students model the behavior I wanted. We also created together large anchor charts in the classroom that were posted on the classroom wall. Another way I had my students reinforce their knowledge of the Daily Five procedures and expectations was by having them make small, foldable books for homework.

Whenever we create an anchor chart in our classroom (For example, I PICK Good Fit Books), students  write and illustrate a small book using this new information.

I like these books because they open the door for kids to creatively demonstrate and share their learning in meaningful ways. I will often add these books to our class library or we will give them to another class as a “learning gift”.  For example, when my students created mini-books of our Read to Self behavior expectations, we shared these with a primary classroom at our school. My students’ books gave these other students another avenue to think about their own behavior expectations.  On top of that, my student authors are doing authentic work creating products for an audience outside my classroom!

Use this video to learn how to make a small foldable book. It is also a great idea to just let your students watch this video and learn how to make the foldable book that way too.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Want to Know More?

Interested in learning more about The Daily Five Reading or the The Literacy CAFE? A good place to get more information about this wonderful balanced literacy structure is to visit The Daily Cafe or The Sisters’ website. Watch for more posts about Daily Five Reading and CAFE Literacy right here at BlueSofaMedia.com.

Read more posts related to The Daily Five here on BlueSofaMedia.com

Check out additional reviews and notes on The Daily Five on Amazon.com

Read more posts related to Cafe Literacy here on BlueSofaMedia.com

Check out additional reviews and notes on CAFE Literacy on Amazon.com

During the 2008-2009 school year, I began using The Sisters’ (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) process of teaching balanced literacy to my fourth grade students: Daily Five Reading and Literacy CAFE. Periodically I will post information, videos, or examples of how I am implementing this balanced literacy structure.

Books for Reluctant and Struggling Readers

When I attended the Choice Literacy Conference in Portland, Oregon a few years back, I was fortunate enough to go to a workshop by Franki Sibberson. At the time, I was teaching fourth grade and desperately needed more books for my reluctant and struggling readers.

One of the most helpful resources I took away from this workshop was a list of books that were engaging books for reluctant and struggling readers. After the workshop I immediately purchased the books and in made them a part of my classroom library. This list of books was a life-saver!

Benefits

There are three benefits that stand out about these particular books:

First, these books are so entertaining and clever that any student (or adult) will enjoy them. In fact, sometimes I often found these books in the book boxes of my really strong readers too. There is no stigma attached to these books and you can easily use them in your reading and writing mini-lessons.

Second, the books listed below are all part of a series with multiple books. If a struggling or reluctant reader enjoys one of these books, there are several more in the series that they will want to read too!

Third, most of these books not only come in audio form (CD or through Audible.com) but are affordable enough for a classrom library. I was able to purchase and have donated a few of the audio versions of these books and they became a well-used part of Listen to Reading.

Book List for Reluctant and Struggling Readers

I purchased all of the books listed above and as many of the books in each series as possible. I also noticed that our school library began stocking many of these books too. With these books available in in our class and the school media center, my reluctant and struggling readers definitely had an easier time finding books to read.

Want to Know More?

Interested in learning more about The Daily Five Reading or the The Literacy CAFE? A good place to get more information about this wonderful balanced literacy structure is to visit The Daily Cafe or The Sisters’ website. Watch for more posts about Daily Five Reading and CAFE Literacy right here at BlueSofaMedia.com.

Do you have a book series to add to this list?
Leave your suggestions in the comments below!

During the 2008-2009 school year I ended the school year with a musical play created by Bad Wolf Press. It was a terrific success on all accounts. The students and families loved it, students gained valuable performance skills and increased their reading fluency skills in the process.

In the future, I would love to use plays from Bad Wolf Press to help teach an entire year’s worth of history or science content. The plays are engaging, humorous, and the students love to read, sing, and practice the academic content that it embedded within each production.

I have to admit I am a terrible singer and shy away from any type of public singing. Having said that, I found the plays to be easy to produce. Each play comes complete with a full script, musical CD with all the songs with and without the lyrics, tips for producing the play, and more. The plays are easy to incorporate into your existing curriculum and students are extremely motivated to practice. Plays are also great ways for English language learners to learn and practice important English language skills and build confidence.  You can even preview the scripts and songs on the Bad Wolf Press website.

I highly recommend Bad Wolf Press and I encourage you to give one a try this next school year.

Bad Wolf Press has a play for many K-12 content standards as well as plays focused on character education:

• Bad Wold
• Character Education
• History and Social Studies
• Holidays
• Language Arts
• Science and Math

10 Reasons Why Musical Plays Work

The following 10 Reasons are listed on the Bad Wolf Press website as reasons to use their plays:

1. Easy to Do
   Our classroom musicals require absolutely no musical knowledge or ability, and can be put on without extensive staging or rehearsal. Read our Frequently Asked Questions!
2. Reinforce the Curriculum
   Bad Wolf plays are designed to emphasize state content standards in Social Studies, Language Arts, Science and Math, and Character Education.
3. Spark the Learning Process
   Participating in a musical play is a hands-on learning experience that makes the curriculum jump out of the textbook and come alive.
4. Cross Language and Learning Barriers
   Students of all levels, interests, and abilities respond to the theatrical presentation of material. It’s amazing how often “reluctant” learners shine when given a part in a play.
5. Build Classroom Camaraderie
   Putting on a show builds teamwork, cooperation, and mutual support. Students feel good about themselves, each other, and learning.
6. Great for Music Teachers Too
   A great majority of our plays are purchased by non-music teachers, but many music teachers have found our shows to be great resources. Sheet music is available for all our shows. Learn more!
7. Integrate the Curriculum
   Our musical plays are designed to make it easy to bring art, speech, movement, theater, music, and singing into your already bulging curriculum.
8. Just the Project for Gifted Students
   Many teachers of gifted students have turned to Bad Wolf musical plays for that extra energy in the curriculum. Give students the script and CD and let them go!
9. Increase Parental Involvement
   These productions—no matter how simple—get families and the entire school community involved in and excited about what’s going on in your classroom.
10. Fun, Educational, and Rewarding
    Student, teachers, administrators, and families love the catchy music, silly rhymes, and goofy humor that deliver real curricular content. Teachers often tell us these plays are the highlight of the year. And we guarantee it.

What would a year long reading, science, and history curriculum look like if it was infused throughout with entertaining, standards-based musical plays?

Like this post? Have questions? Leave a comment!

During the 2008-2009 school year I began using The Sisters’ (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) process of teaching balanced literacy to my fourth grade student: The Daily Five Reading and The Literacy CAFE.

Good Fit Books

One significant theme mentioned throughout Daily Five Reading and Literacy CAFE is teaching students to pick “good fit” books. An important part of becoming a successful independent reader is being able to choose “good fit” books. At the beginning of each year I start an all-year-long conversation with students about how to choose appropriate books. The anchor chart (pictured above and listed below) contains:

I PICK Good Fit Books
I choose a book
Purpose – Why do I want to read it?
Interest – Does it interest me?
Comprehend – Am I understanding what I read?
Know – Do I know most of the words?

In the “official” Daily Five Reading materials the Know states I know most of the words. I changed this to be more aligned with the other three questions. Although it doesn’t change the meaning at all, I prefer the question Do I know most of the words?. I see the I PICK method of choosing good fit books as a series of questions good readers ask themselves whenever and where ever they choose books to read.

Why Good Fit Books?

To me, taking time to teach students how to choose good fit books is well worth my time because it helps build confidence and independence.

When I observe a student in my classroom who is not interested or engaged during Read to Self time, a lot of times (but not all the time) it is because the student is attempting to read a book way beyond what he or she is capable of. I frequently tell my students that reading is making meaning and reading is thinking. Not understanding most of the words on any given page makes discovering meaning and thinking about the text extremely difficult and reading almost impossible to enjoy.

A student immersed in his good fit book.

My reading conferences at the beginning of the year consist largely of looking over each students book box and having a conversation about choosing good fit books. Some students pick up the idea right away. Other students need a lot of support and coaching throughout the year, but over time they begin to get better and better at choosing appropriate books for themselves.

As a teacher I get a lot of data about a students reading level. Sometimes this information is relevant and helpful, sometimes it is not. As part of my conversations I am always willing to share this data with students. But to me, simply giving a student a lexile score or DRA level is not enough to build lifelong, independent readers. I much prefer the I PICK method because, through repeated practice, it encourages thoughtful and reflective book selection.

Want to Know More?

Interested in learning more about Daily Five Reading or CAFE Literacy? Read related articles about Daily Five Reading and CAFE Literacy:

• Overview of the Daily Five and CAFE Literacy
• Read to Self: Great Books for Reluctant Readers
• Word Work: Salt Dough Spelling
• Reinforcing Daily Five Procedures and Expectations

During the 2008-2009 school year I began using The Sisters’ (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) process of teaching balanced literacy to my fourth grade students: Daily Five Reading and CAFE Literacy. Periodically I will post information, videos, or examples of how I am implementing this balanced literacy structure.

Daily Five Reading and Literacy CAFE

Daily Five Reading is just one more way to organize your balanced literacy instruction. It is very similar to what some people call “Reading Workshop” or “Reader’s Workshop”. Personally, I love how Daily Five Reading is structured around current reading and brain research and how it builds student independence. The Daily Five is a structure that helps students develop the daily habits of reading, writing, and working independently for a lifetime of literacy independence.

Daily Five consists of five components that students (ideally) practice daily:

• Read to Self,
• Read to Someone,
• Listen to Reading,
• Word Work,
• Work on Writing

If Daily Five Reading is the structure for students, Literacy CAFE is the structure of teaching reading strategies and assessing students. CAFE stands for:

• Comprehension,
• Accuracy,
• Fluency,
• Expanding Vocabulary.

Through mini-lessons taught each day, strategies are added to the CAFE board (see picture above) and referred back to as necessary.

Here is a quick video snapshot of my classroom. Students are engaged in Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing. In this video students chose which component of Daily Five Reading they wanted to work on, so all three activities are going on simultaneously. Students on the computers are writing science presentations, while other students are actively reading.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Want to Know More?

Interested in learning more about Daily Five Reading or CAFE Literacy? Read related articles about Daily Five Reading and CAFE Literacy:

• I PICK Good Fit Books
• Read to Self: Great Books for Reluctant Readers
• Word Work: Salt Dough Spelling
• Reinforcing Daily Five Procedures and Expectations

Throughout the year I give students homework assignments that include making small, foldable books. I call these books B3 (B threes) or Beanie Baby Books. (My former partner teacher came up with this name because it is the size of a book that a Beanie Baby would read.)

I use these books for all subjects (math, science, social studies, reading, writing) at one time or another. I like Beanie Baby Books because they open the door for kids to creatively demonstrate and share their learning in meaningful ways.  I will often add these books to our class library or we will give them to another class as a “learning gift”.  For example, my students just created Beanie Baby Books of our Read to Self behavior expectations.  A few primary classes at my school are trying Daily Five, so our books will give them another avenue to think about their own behavior expectations.  On top of that, my student authors are doing authentic work creating products for an audience outside my classroom!

Use this video to learn how to make a small foldable book. It is also a great idea to just let your students watch this video and learn how to make the Beanie Baby Book.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The uses for this type of book are limited only by your imagination. Below is just a sample of uses:

• Students create a dictionary of important concepts and vocabulary words on a particular subject or concept in math, science, social studies, etc.
• Have a student create a summary of a book or novel. Can they figure out how to make a meaningful and accurate summary in about 8 small pages?
• It makes a perfect word collector for an English Language Learner. A student can write the word and draw a picture of its meaning. (See the photo above)
• At the end of the week students use it to create a book of important learning from that week. Have the students keep these weekly summaries/reflections of their learning all year long.
• Students can illustrate the process of photosynthesis or mitosis or meiosis, etc.
• Students can write a comic book full or metaphors, similes, prepositions, verbs, etc.