January 23, 2009
Our high school music teacher insisted we close every concert with our best number so the final impression left on our audience would be one of wonderful work and beauty. We want each session of Daily 5 to result in the same kind of feeling for our students, so we always make time for sharing before we close Daily 5 for the day.
Sharing begins with three to five students sharing their learning or growth. This varies depending on their individual goals and strategies. One may want to read a portion of text to demonstrate their progressing fluency and expression. Another may want to share how Flip the Sound enabled them to read accurately. Sometimes its a wiggler, who proudly announces that they stayed in one place and read the whole time. Often it's a student who was prompted to share while we informally conferred with them. We usually take a moment or two to restate focus lessons of the day, and discover many students tried them out with some success.
We monitor turns, making sure every child has an opportunity to share at least once a week. There are several ways to do this. Students might have an assigned sharing day or we might use a check off sheet and prompt students when it's their turn. However we choose to keep track, making time for sharing gives everyone a chance to review and celebrate the learning that occurred that day. Sharing helps end the session with a smile and a sigh...letting the last note of the morning resonate.