Part 1 of the "Daily 5"

So, today we began learning about our literacy activities. The first one is "Read to Self".  While I know that all the kids know the basics of "how to read", what they are not always doing is staying focused on the book and are being distracted by the slightest sound or movement near them. Today we practiced our "reading stamina".  That is the length of time we could read without stopping.  The kids thought that as a class they could last for "18 minutes", "1 hour", or "the rest of our lives"! Lol, gotta love their enthusiasm. Then a voice of reason said, "How about 5 mins?", and I said, " I hope so!". We made a deal, if they could read silently for 5 mins straight, then we could play outside early for 5 minutes.  The first try we made it 40 seconds. It took a few tries... But eventually we made it to 5 mins. In fact we made it to 10! We'll try to make it to 15 or 20 tomorrow!