The Daily CAFÉ Gail Boushey and Joan MoserPresentation by: Melissa MixonLexington District 1

Who am I?Melissa Mixon

Taught for 11 yearsWill begin this year as a Literacy Coach

Used Daily CAFÉ for about 6 yearsEmail: mhmixon@lexington1.net

What is the Daily 5?“The Daily 5 is more than a management strategy or a curriculum framework – it is a structure that helps students develop the daily habits of reading, writing, and

working independently that will lead to a lifetime of literacy independence.”

The Daily Café website

Now what is it really??The Daily 5 is a strategy for teaching

students to be independent learners while allowing the teacher time to work in small

groups or with individual students.

The CAFÉ is a menu of comprehension strategies used by readers which is posted

in the classroom for students to use.

The Daily 5 Read to Self Work on Writing Read to Someone Word Work Listening to Reading

How does it work?You will do a brief mini-lesson based on

whatever program or curriculum you are using. This may be a comprehension strategy from the

CAFE, Writer’s Workshop, Word Work lesson, basal lesson, etc. It all depends on your

district/school/personal classroom. After the lesson, you will “send” students to Daily 5. In my classroom, students check in using a

SmartBoard slide and then go to their station.

Read to SelfThis is where students take time to read “just right” books. It is critical that you put in the time to teach students how to recognize the books that are “just

right” (CAFÉ). You also may need to take time to build stamina in

independent reading.

Read to SomeoneStudents share the same book or have a partner set of

books and they take turns reading to each other. This is a time when I encourage students to really focus on certain fluency practices, either a skill we are all focusing on or something the students have identified individually as a

goal to work on. Most of the time I allow students to pair up as they choose, but sometimes I will purposefully pair up

students. This is also a time when I ask students to pair-share about

the comprehension strategy we are focusing on.

ListeningThis block is more geared to the emerging or struggling

readers. This is when students will listen to fluent reading through a listening station. There are several websites with pictures books or you can use tapes (yes!), cd’s,

iPods/iPads, etc. The website does offer suggestions for how to use this block with older students.

In my classroom:In 3rd grade I actually did away with this

block and replaced it with Social Studies. Some days it was not an option, other days,

students needed more time to work on whatever we were doing in SS, so this gave

them that time. After all, what they are working on will involve reading and/or

writing, right?!

Websites for Listening to Reading http://www.storylineonline.net/Famous people reading stories – super fun Tumblebooks Starfall Reading Rainbow http://ngexplorer.cengage.com/ngyoung

explorer/

This one has cool nonfiction read alouds

Work on Writing

This is when students work in the writing workshop portion of your class. Because all students are not

working on writing at the same time, you are freed up to help individual students.

You will teach your writing mini-lesson with the understanding that not all students will immediately begin to work on writing. They may choose to do the

writing portion later in the Daily 5 rotation. However, the expectation is still that they will focus on the skill/piece

that you have presented.

Word Work

The word work block is where children work on the spelling/vocabulary/word study skills you are focusing on in class. Like writing, there is no set program, but this is where you insert your own program.

In my classroom:We have used a variety of programs dictated by district and school. Each time I would conduct my mini-lesson, then students chose when they would practice the skill. I usually make this a set group that I meet with daily.

What it looks like in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiIaIeivwFk

Mini-Lessons Reading mini-lessons are drawn from the CAFÉ

menu or from the program your district or school requires.

The CAFÉ is a menu of strategies that fluent readers use.

In my classroom:The menu is what we focus on during the first few weeks of school as we are establishing routines, developing reading stamina, and setting goals.

CAFÉ Reading Strategies

These are the behaviors the authors have identified that are critical to a successful

Daily 5 rotation. You will want to teach these behaviors in the first days of school and

explicitly.

Get started right away Stay in one spot Work quietly Read the whole time Increase stamina Select and read good fit books

CAFÉ Reading StrategiesThe orange box indicates the

“essential skills” identified by the authors. These are the skills they

see that readers do over and over again.

In my classroom:I mesh these strategies with the basal adopted by our district and Fountas and Pinnell’s, The First 20 Days. I pull them in where they fit with what we are doing and teach them through read alouds and modeling. Then, I expect students to practice these skills during the D5 block.

CAFÉ Reading Strategies

These strategies are assessed during reading conferences. When you sit with students during independent reading, you will look to see where they are strong and where they struggle. Then identify what they should focus on. You can also use this to form small groups, with students who have similar needs.

These strategies are also assessed through reading conferences and practiced when students read with a partner. This is where purposeful partnering might come in.

CAFÉ Reading Strategies

CAFÉ Reading Strategies

The vocabulary strategies can be taught during mini-lessons for reading, writing, and word work, wherever they fit best.

As you teach these strategies, you add them to the CAFÉ board. You can also use this as a goal-setting method for students.

In my classroom:We use the Dominie Reading Assessment to assess where individual students are. After completing the Dominie, I help students determine what strategy

they feel they need to work on. They put their name on a sticky note and attach it to the CAFÉ board. They also have individual menu on which

they highlight the strategy(ies) they will focus on.

http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/department105.cfm

What is the teacher doing?What you do during these blocks is work with your small groups or individual students. You will notice I had a spot for students to put their name under meeting with the teacher. Some rounds of D5 I have specific groups I meet with, other rounds I circulate and meet with individual students on what they are working on. This is when I conduct reading and writing conferences.

The PensieveThis is what the authors call their notebook for tracking conferences with students. It is critical for keeping track of who you have met with, what you discussed, who needs your help, etc. The website has plenty of suggested downloads for the Pensieve. Again, this goes back to figuring out what works best for you!

The authors include: Calendar: set meetings with children and

track guided reading groups Conference tracking sheet (looks like a

gradebook sheet) Focus Group section Data – has all the info on students (reading

levels, MAP scores, etc.) Each child has a section containing individual

reading, writing, math, and a CAFÉ menu

The Pensieve

Who is in the group?

This is when you see a student accurately use

the strategy you are working on.

This is where you mark when a student uses the strategy in

independent conferences.

How does it work in the classroom??

You decide!! You need to figure out your daily schedule and how you can use this management method most effectively. You choose how many blocks, the length of time for each block, what students will do during the blocks, etc. The biggest draw for this is that students are choosing what they want to work on.

In my classroom:I would often only do two or three blocks. Usually I would require students to choose one of the “Reading” blocks, a writing block, and something else, if we had 3 blocks.

The Daily CAFÉ and meThe books, The Daily 5 and CAFÉ are easy to read, well written, and lay out very clearly and simply how you can teach the management and strategies.

I have given you some of the ways I have adjusted these books to fit my classroom and my teaching style.

Acknowledgments The Daily 5 CAFÉ www.thedailycafe.com