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Hi everyone! Over the weekend I read The Daily 5 by Boushey and Moser. I'm thinking of incorporating it into my elementary classroom next year. However, my concern is time (isn't that always the case?). The Daily 5 takes up such a huge block of time. I was wondering if anyone has experience with incorporating science in to the Daily 5 and if so, can you give me some details about how you accomplished that? Thanks! Kendra

Hi Kendra -

Using the Daily 5 specifically in science sounds like an ambitious but worthwhile goal! Our district moved to block scheduling last year (keeping dedicated reading time) and I am trying to think about what it would look like to accomplish this in our periods. I'd love to know more about what you are thinking?!

Our building is very invested in another program by these authors - 'The Literacy Cafe' it is amazing - thank you for bringing the Daily 5 to our attention!

For more information about these ideas you can start here.

Kendra, I had never heard of the Daily Five. Thank you for sharing it with us. I am going to read more about it!! I am sorry I cannot help answer your question since I am not familiar with this yet.

Hi Kendra, I hadent heard of the Daily Five either, but now that I have seen it I really like it!. I think our Science teachers, upper grades particularly, would really love it. We are adpoting a new math curriculum this year. Every time we do that, some of our Science fall by the wayside. Makes me really sad to see this happen in our self contained classrooms. I willshare this info with them though and maybe they can makes plans to incorporate it in our departmentalized classes.

I think you could use non-fiction science books as a part of your "read to self" or "read with a partner" station. In addition, you could use science words from your science units or projects as part of "word work". Finally, I think you could have your students write about science concepts, projects, ideas, questions, etc. during "work on writing". I think you could make The Daily 5 and science or math for that matter work well together. It just might take some tweeking and playing around until you find what works best for you. Good luck!

When you say the daily five are you referring to the 5E (Engage, explore, etc.)or is this something different? Can someone clarify for me please?

Great question Julie, I assumed the reference was to a literacy book titled: The Daily 5, which I use in my classroom. If the reference is to the 5E's then my suggestions are not appropriate.

Thanks Chelsi, I just looked up the Daily 5 and now I get it. I have been out of the literacy loop for a while, but after looking at your post and the book I think you are right on track with your comments. Maybe I need to stick my head out of the science lab every once in a while :)

Julie, Being in a lab everyday is an exciting way to spend a day :) Chelsi

I am also new to the Daily 5, but took Jodi's advice and looked it up on Amazon. :D Kendra, you are probably already doing the Daily 5, but just need to make it Science oriented. I like the idea of lab experiments from Chelsi. You have the writing and word work all in one package. All one needs is to introduce the topic with a good read for listening to reading, have reference texts with more information about the topic to further their understanding/ enhance their experiment with background information, and discuss what was read with their lab group referring to the text that they read. If you could stretch portions of the Daily 5 to different parts of the day, instead of completing them in all in one period, it would allow you some freedom. Here is another idea. You could have a basket of books during silent reading of the topic you are currently covering in class for Science. Students could read to self or read with someone and journal what they learned and what they wonder for 5 min. Word work could be a word wall with focused Science vocabulary that will be used throughout the quarter. Student names could be on a chart and they could give themselves a point each day for every vocabulary word they used (whether it be in discussion, group work, lab experiment). Listening and reading could be ending off the day with a Science read based on the same topic to reinforce their learning. I'm not sure if this helps, but let us know what worked best for you! :D

This conversation has me intrigued. As I am reading, it sounds like the protocols used in the Daily 5 might work very well as schools begin to implement the Common Core in English Language Arts. I do think from reading the posrs that science can be seamlessly integrated into the Daily 5. I am thinking I may have to read more about the Daily 5. In fact, I may just order the book tonight. Thank you for this post which as begun to push an extend my thinking about how I can best use the Common Core Standards in ELA to leverage science teaching. Kathy

Kendra - I'm so excited to hear your ambition to use The Daily Five by Boushey and Moser. I taught Language Arts and this guide was a hugely influential for those who have a large reading/LA block in their day (generally elem teachers). Establishing the Daily Five format (read to yourself; read to someone; listen to someone read; practice writing; and word/vocab study) are instrumental for all learning and very relevant for science learning/non-fiction reading. I would imagine if you are incorporating your science process skills/scientific practices this is happening anyway and I would encourage you to think of ways to utilize your day to support the needs of your curriculum and LA Standards with ways that they overlap with the Next Generation Standards and building your reading that supports these efforts. What will be beneficial is how you can guide the students' reading to make connections, ask questions, and become more engaged with their learning through interdisciplinary studies and perhaps a cross-curricular approach. GOOD LUCK!

I've also never heard of the Daily 5 but can see its use even at higher grades (where many students lack the ability to read and comprehend science text). I've passed the information along to the reading people in my building but would be curious to know how people are implementing this in the middle or high school science class.

I was trying to figure out what about the Daily 5 was causing me some disequilibrium...I finally figured it out. The piece that seems to be missing is Speaking and Listening, talking about claims and evidence. How are others incorporating "talking" which is important in the Daily 5? Kathy

A third grade teacher at my school started using the daily five this school year. She bought the companion book which is called the daily cafe. The sisters came to Hawaii to do a workshop. You can check out their website at dailyfive.com. Delightfuldailyfivecafe.com is also a helpful website that talks about how a first grade teacher incorporates the daily five.

Kathy, you bring up an important point about speaking/listening and I think I have it figured out. Maybe? But here's what I'm thinking... In between each rotation students are brought back together for "mini-lessons" or "brain-breaks" so they can get re-focused for the next session of daily five. This is a perfect opportunity to have focused discussions. The daily five is still very much a work-in-progress in my classroom. It's more of a "daily 3" right now. It takes a huge amount of effort to get it up and running (as evidenced by the amount of time that lapsed between when I first posted this topic and now...LOL) but I will say it is the now smoothest part of my day. So much so that I'm looking at ways to incorporate it in math as well, as I think there is a serious need for it there. There's just so little time to practice mathematical fluency, which I think is every bit as important as reading fluency. I'm also incorporating nothing but non-fiction books in my guided reading lessons, with very few exceptions. I'm still struggling to find time for hands-on experiments and student-led investigations. Any ideas or suggestions on that front would be greatly appreciated. I'll be sure to post back how the daily five is going in my room as the year progresses... Thanks everyone! OH! And I love, love, love the 5E model too! :) Kendra

Great conversation. As a science supervisor for my district this really helps guide the conversations I have with my elementary teachers. One of their greatest fears is the time that 'science' takes away from their other activities.