• Parent Letter
    Dear Parents and Guardians,
    Welcome to a new school year! I hope you had a wonderful summer and
    enjoyed spending quality time with your child. I know that each year of
    your child’s schooling presents new expectations and routines for you
    and your child to become familiar with. This year I will be introducing
    classroom routines and structure in a way that removes all of the
    guesswork from the child and allows them to concentrate fully on
    learning. In reading, the classroom structure I use is called the Daily 5.
    Soon your child will be talking about the Daily 5 at home. The purpose of
    this letter is to explain to you what the Daily 5 is and what you should
    expect to see at home.
    The Daily 5 is a literacy structure that teaches independence and gives
    children the skills to grow as readers to create a lifetime love of reading
    and writing. It consists of five tasks that are introduced individually. When
    introduced to each task, the children discuss what it looks like, sounds
    like, and feels like to engage in the task independently. Then, the children
    work on building their stamina until they are successful at being
    independent while doing that task.
    These are the five tasks:

    Read to Self

    Read to Someone

    Listen to Reading

    Word Work

    Work on Writing


    When all five tasks have been introduced and the children are fully
    engaged in reading and writing, I am able to work with small groups and
    confer with children one-on-one. This structure is effective, the results are
    proven, and the children look forward to Daily 5 time.
    One thing you may notice is a decrease in the number of worksheets your
    child brings home. There is no research that indicates doing worksheets
    improves students’ reading and writing. Instead classtime is focused on
    what research does show improves students’ reading and writing
    abilities: the Daily 5.
    Ask your child about Daily 5 and Math Daily 3, and see what they have to
    say. I anticipate your child will tell you about the class stamina, how we
    are working toward independence, and maybe even about some of the
    fantastic things your child has written, read, or listened to during our Daily
    5 time. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
    Thank you for your continued support!