Daily 5 - I'm Gettin' Brave Here

It is with great respect for "the sisters" as I write this post, so please don't misinterpret my ideas as sheer criticism. When I started doing Daily 5, my stations were straight from the book and it was awesome.  With little prep, I could quickly implement them.  Keep it simple, right?  However, even when I first read about the D5 method, there was this little voice in the back of my mind saying "this maybe isn't gonna be enough for me." 

Initially, the D5 stations were PLENTY for me to think about.  As they intended, I kept it simple so that I didn't spend all my time planning centers. I have to say, in this day and age of TpT, Pinterest, and thousands of teaching blogs, there is so much out there, and I quickly started feeling overwhelmed and frustrated at the same time.  I kinda wanted to "do it all."  How do I integrate all the great stuff (valuable stuff, awesome stuff) out there and still do my mini- lessons and most importantly, work with my small groups AND stick to the Daily 5 method? I had to keep reminding myself that this is really about getting that time to customize small groups to meet needs!  I also am a believer in the idea of read, read, read, so I wouldn't change a thing with the reading (to Self and to Someone/Listen to) stations.  

Here was my contention.  While I truly believe that small group work is "where it's at," I have to know that the rest of my class is making great use (not just good use) of valuable time, i.e. not just stamping spelling words. There, I said it.  I think there is a way to keep the activities fresher and more challenging (with little extra work on the teacher's part.)  If you're a teacher who doesn't mind pinning, creating, purchasing, downloading, printing, laminating, and organizing then why not EXPAND those D5 stations to something that will keep your kids extremely engaged and excited about their chosen station?  If you hate Pinterest, blogs, and TpT, then you're probably not reading this anyway. 

I had to go talk to a D5 guru who teaches sixth grade at our school.  She has about 13 highly organized stations going at once for LA each day.  I have enough "stuff" to do that but I wasn't crazy about where and how I was putting it out there for the kids to choose from. I also didn't like my accountability system with all my extra activities going on. So I went to see Abby. I found out that she has a folder for each student that has their "choices page" inside it. There is a list of choices based on what she is making available to them that six weeks (at least 10-12 things).  As a class at the beginning of the six weeks, they highlight the "have to do" things on the list.  The kids can do those things first or they can wait until the end. They might spend several days on one activity, and that's fine as long as they get their "have to do's" done and they are being productive. They have to write a short description of what they did each time they go to a station (the better their description, the potentially better grade.)  They staple any papers they did to the list and turn it in at the end of the time period.  I think I would make it due weekly for third grade just to keep them accountable.

Here are my signs for three of my stations.  What I have available there changes from week to week.  I still have Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing (which I've "expanded" as well), but these signs go with my Word Work things:

I put out the skills I am working on by offering related task cards, etc...

We do traditional Word Work and some kids need that extra spelling practice!

This is where I may put some Puzzle Mania pages or maybe some Wacky Wordies. I have Boggle (huge on the wall), sight words, basal vocabulary, etc...

I have these signs available FREE in my TpT store, and they are editable if you want to make them to fit your extra activities. Here's a picture of my "accountability/planning page" (similar to Guru Abby's) that the kids get for their folder.  I would offer it to you, but you'd have to customize one for yourself anyway, so it wouldn't help you, but you get the idea. 

Of course, I'd like to think that I'm not the only one who feels this way about D5.  I still am a believer in the Daily 5!!  (I just changed mine to the Daily 50, just kidding!)  I'm really not a contentious person, so I really don't want to step on toes, BUT (as we say in the south), this has been "stuck in my craw" for quite some time, and what else is a blog for, right?  Please let me hear your opinion!  
LOL (my mom thinks that means Lots of Love, so let's go with that!)