S.T.A.R. Literacy Binder Series: Part 1

Daily 5 Check-In & Reading Log

Hey ya'll!  I'm back with my first *official* post of the series.  I wanted to make sure that I make it clear to all my readers that I have not yet implemented any of this.  This upcoming school year will be the first time I will use literacy binders for my students.  So, with that said, although some of these ideas seem wonderful... I'm not sure just how practical they are *yet*.  I do look forward to doing an updated series once school starts and going back to each of these posts to share what still works and what I had to do away with.

This summer I read the Daily 5 and the CAFE book... both are must reads for any reading teacher.  I love the way they do check-in (orally) each day.  However, my time is very short since I must teach reading, writing, and ELA in two hours.  So, I'm not so sure how the actual daily check-in will go, but I wanted a way for students to keep up with the choices they have made that week and also a way for me to keep up with it at a glance.  Basically, I want to be able to see *quickly* who is going where and if they are going some where way too often.  So, in addition to the daily checking in, my students will be required to log all their choices for each day for a week.  On Fridays, they will turn these in for me to look over.  Now, I have created two templates.  The first one can be used if you are planning to use the Daily 5 every day.  I think my format should really be called the Weekly 5 because there isn't a way we can do all 5 every day.  But, I do want the students to do all of them so we are just going to spread them out over the course of a week.  There are guidelines as to how many of each should be completed each week.  For example, I don't want a student doing word work every day.  Although word work is important, I would like for them to get a variety of things completed throughout the week.  Likewise, I do want them to read to self every day.  These reminders are at the top of the form.

Here's how the form will look.

For each selection, the students will place a 1, 2, or 3 in the choices they will complete for that particular day.  The numbers represent the rotation number.  The students will keep this as the first page in their binder when they open it.  By getting a new one each week, there should be no need for a page protector.  However, if you are going to use one that they keep for a while, I would recommend having them keep it in one to keep it nice and neat.

I'm still playing around with the way we will orally check-in.  I'm thinking about having the students check-in at the end of class for the following day.  That way, we will be ready to go when class starts the next day.  You can also use this time to incorporate some type of reflection or summarizing strategy while the class is taking turns checking in.  I'm thinking that after we orally check-in (and making sure we don't have the entire class going to word work at the same time) they can go ahead and mark it on their form so they will have a reminder when they come into class the following day.

The first tab in their binder will be the classroom reading log.  I will have a reading log that goes home as homework and incorporates some type of reading strategy (not just read and record), but this one will stay in their binder.  It gives me an idea of what they are working on in class as well as read to self / read to someone / or listen to reading.  All classroom reading will be recorded on this reading log.  When I check-in with students to talk about what they are reading (I'm planning to do this on Fridays and Mondays) I will also look at their classroom reading log.  The form will look like this.

I have a space for comments for each entry and an overall comment section at the bottom.  The entry comments will be used if I have something to say about that particular entry while the overall comments space will be used if I have comments on their progress or reading habits.  This is a very simple form, but I think it will be great for what I need it for.

This concludes the first *official* post of the series.  I hope you have found something useful.  These files will be available for today only.  After today, they will be archived into the bundled set that will go on sale in my shop when this series concludes.  It is a .zip file that contains both the .pdf and .ppt file.  You will need to download the free font KG Keep Your Head Up and KG The Last Time Bubble if you are wanting the .ppt for editing.  To access the file, click HERE.

So, I'm wondering what works for ya'll and how your students check-in for the daily 5?

Don't miss my next post:

S.T.A.R. Literacy Binder Series: Part 2

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