Building Stamina!

Okay, I keep forgetting to take pictures while we are doing Read to Self, but I thought I’d pop in to update you all on how we’re doing anyway. Kristi and I were both nervous about starting the Daily 5, but we went for it!

We both launched Read to Self on Friday. We were more than a little surprised at how well our new little Firsties did – even if we did only do it for 3 minutes! Today we made it 6 minutes – hooray!

We also taught the I PICK Good-Fit Books lesson today with the shoes. The kids loved it! In fact, they were the most attentive during the shoe lesson than any other day. Apparently, watching us try on shoes is very interesting. LOL!

I do have to tell a little funny on Kristi though. Sitting at the small group table has been a little difficult for both of us. We’re both used to walking around and keeping an eye on things when students are working independently. As the D5 book suggests, we have not done that.

Today when Kristi asked her kids what she would be doing during Read to Self, one little girl raised her hand and said, “Sitting.”

Of course, Kristi explained that once they build stamina and the D5 is up and running, she would be teaching and working with students – not just sitting. J

Tomorrow I’ll be launching Work on Writing. Kristi has to start a day after me because we share books that we use for our writing lessons. We plan to launch Work on Writing using the mini-lessons we have used in the past during our Writing Workshop.

I’m really excited about getting the D5 up and going so we can start our small group instruction. I think the kids are really going to benefit from it!

Hope you all are having a great start—or enjoying your final weeks of freedom!

Crystal