Daily 5

Last year was my first year using the Daily 5 and CAFE systems in my classroom.  For those who are unfamiliar with these two programs, both are the creation of two innovative ladies by the name of Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  The Daily 5 is a way of organizing your language arts block to ensure students have quality time to practice their reading and writing skills.  The CAFE program helps you organize your reading instruction into four components: Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary.  To find out more about these programs visit the Sisters' website, The Daily CAFE.

One of the first lessons in the Daily 5 program is teaching children how to choose good fit books for their independent reading.  Boushey and Moser suggest using the acronym PICK to provide students with guidelines to follow when they are hunting for books: Purpose, Interest, Comprehend, and Know. Students should ask themselves these four questions when deciding if a book is a good fit: What is my purpose for reading this book?  Am I interested in this book?  Do I comprehend or understand this book?  Do I know, or can I read, most of the words in this book?

I had a lot of success teaching my students to use the "I PICK good fit books" system when determining if a book was appropriate for their independent reading.  As a result of using those four questions, it seemed that there was a lot less book "abandoning", because students were making their initial choices wisely.  I had a simple poster last year, but since I decided to stick with the PICK system, I created some newer, snazzier posters to laminate and keep permanently.

You can download the posters for free at my Teachers pay Teacher store.  There is a very cute PICK lesson involving different types and sizes of shoes that was a hit with my kiddos last year.  For more details, I would strongly recommend obtaining a copy of Boushey and Moser's book, The Daily 5.  It is a quick read, but the benefits will last you the entire school year and beyond!