The Daily 5 How to make literacy work in the classroom

What is the Daily 5 The Daily 5 is a new and innovative idea created by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, two sisters with a common goal. It consists of five parts to develop literacy skills in an elementary classroom; Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, and Work Work.

How does it help? Using the components of the Daily 5 help teachers keep students focused on literacy. Provides time for the teacher to work with small groups and individual students It gives students the chance to be independent in their choices and have some ownership over their education.

Read to Self One of the first components of the Daily 5 is Read to Self, or independent reading. Students learn to choose books that are “good fit” books, which means that they are not too hard and not too easy. They spend time reading independently books that are of interest to them.

Read to Someone Read to Someone is when a pair of students share reading time with each other. One student will read and the other will check for understanding.

Listen to Reading A listening station in an elementary classroom is a must. It allows children the chance to listen to reading and hear what fluent reading should sound like. It also allows students to hear new vocabulary and a variety of texts that they might not have been exposed to before.

Work on Writing An important part of literacy development is writing. Writing might consist of writing in a journal or writing a picture story.

Word Work Word Work consists of developing spelling and language skills. Students might be using play-dough to re-create the spelling words of the week or using a magnetic board to spell words with.

Benefits Using the Daily 5 allows teachers to have reading conferences with individual students. It allows students to have independence in choosing what they would like to work on that day.

Resources This is just a brief overview of the Daily 5 and the components that can be used in the classroom. More detailed information can be found at