Ask a first grader what their favorite book is and you'll get all kinds of answers.

"I like to read a lot about cat in the hat and stuff like that," said Lauren Moersch.

First-grader Darrion Fortee might like books about birds but he's no chicken when it comes to reading.

"Reading is good for you, it's not bad for you," explained Fortee.

Fortee and his classmates aren't scared of a lot of reading.

"We are supposed to read our book sacks every night.  On the weekends we don't have to but every school night of the week we have to read in our book sack," stated Fortee.

Moersch is glad to have the weekend off from reading but once Monday rolls around it's time to once again hit the books.

"Mostly ones that are easy and hard but not too easy and not too hard," said Moersch.

"One of the most important things you can do with kids is give them independence," said first grade teacher Karen Gill.

These first graders are taking part in a new program their teachers read about called The Daily Five.

"It's comprised of five main goals," said Gill.  "Read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, and the other two are working with words and working on writing."

Gill and her fellow teachers started the program at the beginning of the year. One of the most important parts is building a child's stamina.

"So you start out with three minutes and then add another minute until you're up to like 25 or 30 minutes for primary children," stated Gill.

While 30 minutes may sound like a lot, students like Fortee are reading about 10 hours a day. The Daily Five teaches students to work out words on their own and figure out what a word is if they don't know it. They're in first grade and they're reading on their own, and according to Fortee, practice makes perfect.

"Because if you don't practice you won't get smarter, you'll be dumber," stated Fortee.

The kids get to take home different books every week and each student gets a book at their reading level so everyone gets to work at their own pace.