I am researching options to enhance our primary literacy and would like opinions on whether I should further explore The Daily Five or Literacy Stations (Debbie Diller)?
Which one do you think would be best as a starting point to help grades 1-3 teachers with what to do during the literacy instruction block? We want this to be something that is rigorous, manageable and a balanced approach.
but, as a middle school teacher who will be teaching the very lowest of the lows next year (kids on a 2nd-5th grade reading level) I am curious about something--this Daily 5 sounds to me like centers is the way it's run. Is that so? It just seems to lend itself to a centers way of doing things.
do the Daily 5!! I am on my way out the door right now, so I can't give a full testimony on why I believe the Daily 5 is better...but basically, if you like to spend a ton of time on putting together stations that kids get bored of easily, do the lit. stations. If you want your children to become creative and independent readers and writers so that you will TRULY be able to work with individuals and small groups (with no prep except for what you'll do with your groups)...do the DAILY FIVE! It is the most amazing thing to ever happen to my classroom!!!
I have read and tried to implement Literacy Work Stations and I just couldn't get them to work for me. They were still too "centery". Although I have not yet read the Daily Five (I have it, I'm still waiting for summer ), it sounds better to me because it's never changing. The students have the same choices all the time. It seems to make for a good routine for the students which is what they really need. It seems that the kids would be so used to what they are doing that they wouldn't need to interrupt you as often in your conferencing or small group work.
Again, I've not read the Daily Five so if I'm way off base, someone please correct me. This is just what I have gathered from reading about it.
Daily 5 isn't centers. The kids get the choice of doing things such as read to self, read to someone, word work, work on writing, and listen to reading. Once you get it going, I believe it pretty much runs itself. I am going to try this next year. I have done components of it, but never really put it all together.
I guess it's time to go to the Peony Room and read about this. Maybe I'll order the books from amazon. At first I wasn't too interested in it, because it sounds like centers, which I truly dislike. You all tell me it's not centers, though, so I guess it's time to read and learn. Maybe I'll use it in the new school year.
One more question, and I truly hope this isn't a dumb one that I wouldn't ask if I'd already done the reading: Does this work with a reader's workshop and writer's workshop model?
I don't know a lot about the Daily 5, but I bought Debbie Diller's book "Practice With Purpose" and followed her work station model this past year. I didn't do things exactly as she described, but I followed the general concept and I really liked it. It wasn't as much work as I was expecting and I do feel like the kids got a lot out of it.
I hope my response helps because I am familiar with both. Both Daily 5 AND Debbie Diller's Literacy Stations are great.
The Daily 5 book concentrates on the management. The students have a choice of which activity they will do (of course, once they are trained by you): read to self, read to buddy, writing, listening and working with words. I did this this year and liked it. I read the book, but more importantly, I read the book through a book study. A group of teachers and I would get together and discuss the implemention of the Daily 5. The Daily 5 promotes the children being involved in authentic literacy activities while you are working in small groups.
Debbie Diller's Literacy Stations is really the same philosophy--she just comes from a different research group with a different publisher.
Traditionally, teachers who do small groups have the other students doing SUPER CENTERS. You the teacher make the centers and then have the students do the centers and then you have to grade the centers and change out the centers.
In the Daily 5, there is no changing out. With the Literacy Stations, there is not much changing out. Debbie Diller promotes the "teaching" of students on how to do the authentic literacy activity and then the teacher with the students create the center.
Centers can include (not limited to this list): An observation center--where a student brings something and students go to the center to observe it and write about it and discuss it and then read/research more thing about it. She used the example of a student bringing their guinea pig to school for a week or two.
Computer Center--watching live feeds about something you are learning and then students writing about it/reading more info about it
Overhead or Elmo Station--where students read a book together and fill out the graphic organizer you are learning about on the overhead
Listening Station, Buddy Reading, Spelling station (working with word families you have already created from earlier phonic lessons during the year); poetry station (She suggested a magneticpoetry.com)
The list is endless and I can't think of more from the top of my head.
I highly recommend either one. I highly suggest teachers no longer spending time and money on the once called SUPERCENTERS. Neither one of these are those. Both allow your students to participate in authentic literacy.
I don't know where the posters above think that Debbie Diller's Literacy Stations are like the traditional centers--but they are not.
06-06-2009, 06:45 AM
), it sounds better to me because it's never changing. The students have the same choices all the time. It seems to make for a good routine for the students which is what they really need. It seems that the kids would be so used to what they are doing that they wouldn't need to interrupt you as often in your conferencing or small group work.
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