Daily 5 in the Intermediate Classroom... Continued... Finally!

This fall was an absolute whirlwind and here we are, on break and strolling into the winter season (even if it is an unseasonably 71 degrees here in the Virginia mountains).


While on break, it's good to reflect on the successes and areas still in need of success in my Language Arts classroom -- and my modified Daily 5 routines are a definite success that I'd like to share.

A Daily Five Diary Part 1: Implementing Daily 5 in a Departmentalized Upper Elementary Classroom

Over the summer I finally read The Daily 5 by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. Due to the masters classes I'd been taking over the past few years, I kept putting it off, but now that I've read it I am fully in! All five parts that make up the daily regiment -- Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, and Word Work -- are research-based and contribute to a balanced literacy program. A total win-win, right?

So, here are my obstacles I'm trying to overcome as I implement Daily 5 in my fourth grade classroom:

Fiction Comprehension Task Cards

The hubby is popping popcorn and the family movie is about to come on, so I'll be quick. I just posted to my TpT store a fabulous product that I use with my upper elementary reading students: I Mustache (Must Ask) You Something... General Fiction Task Cards. 

There are 16 cards included, but the great thing is that they are "general," meaning they can be paired with any fictional text with very little prep work from you. The questions range in complexity from easy, text-dependent to higher-level thinking.

I've used these cards with fourth and fifth graders in a variety of ways. Most recently, students used them after partner-reading upper elementary level picture books, while I worked with a small group of students. 

The download can be printed on card stock or good quality copy paper, and then cut into fourths. Laminate or cover them with clear contact paper for extra durability. (This also keeps you from reprinting them over and over.)

I honestly love these and use them quite a bit with different texts. I hope you will like them too.

Well, the movie has started. Have a great weekend!

(My informational text task cards are in the works, so check back soon.)

10 Fabulous Items for an Upper Elementary Reading & Language Arts Classroom

Yep, it's here, folks! The bittersweet beginning of the end of summer break. The back-to-school sales are on, kids are picking out new bookbags and stalking the school websites for class lists and schedules, and teachers... Well, we are busy as well, decorating our classrooms, ordering supplies, and planning a year of exciting lessons -- which brings me to a bit of advice that I was once given and I've found to be true:
Always keep a wish list for your classroom. Seriously! You just never know when a grant or fund may come your way in education. It usually comes when you least expect it. 

With that in mind, here is my list of ten fabulous things for an upper elementary Reading/Language Arts classroom:

I've Got the Summer School Blues...

This is me right now...

Clip Art by MyCuteGraphics

...(scared face)...because tomorrow is the beginning of Summer School. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE seeing the kids. It's the idea of teaching multiple grade levels that frightens me (K-3). I know many teachers out there do this already on a daily basis -- and I salute you! But my teaching experience generally encompasses one grade level at a time. The only exception to this rule is Summer School or our summer program for gifted and talented students. But Summer School is the most difficult since I'll have three or four grade levels at a time, with no assistance (except from my 6th grade son) or supply funds, and the students are mostly struggling students who often are not happy to be coming to school during their vacation time. 

So I have a plan! Here is what I plan to do. Let me know what you think.

Teaching Key Vocabulary for English & Reading Test Prep in Upper Elementary -- Ideas & Download Link

       Working in a rural Virginia elementary school, I found that one of the issues my students were having was a fundamental deficit in vocabulary language. It seemed that several students had the reading skills and strategies, but their lack of vocabulary knowledge prevented them from finding success on the reading tests that simulated the Virginia English SOL test, which is the standardized test that 3rd grade and up take each year. Obviously, I don't want to "teach to the test," but I also don't want to set my students up for failure either.

To combat this issue there were a few things we did this past school year.