Daily 5 and CAFE - Week 2

12 September 2012
I had a great response to my post last week on how I was implementing the Daily 5 and CAFE strategies in my grade 5/6 class.  I wanted to take the time to answer some of these questions in my post tonight.

I'll start with timing.  I have a 100 minute literacy block, 5 days a week, which is lovely.  I also integrate reading and writing into my content areas (1/2 hour daily).  

I will admit, starting the Daily 5 and CAFE is taking a lot of my language block.  But it is very important to model, model, and model to build that stamina and muscle memory.  When the program is fully implemented (which I expect to happen within the month), it will take up about 55 minutes of my 100 minute literacy block, leaving me with 45 minutes daily to teach other units / writing genres not covered with the daily 5/cafe.    Those 55 minutes when the students are engaged and comfortable with their routine will give me MORE time to meet with guided reading groups, confer with students independently, do a little small group intervention, etc.  Being able to have more time to meet with smaller groups of students will only benefit these students so much more.

Okay, so set-up.  My students all have a language arts binder that they keep in the classroom.  This binder has sections for reading, writing, and media.  We have a small Daily 5/CAFE notebook, and a reader response notebook that we keep in the front pocket of our binders.  We will also have a Work on Writing, and Word Work pocket folder we will keep in the back of our binders.  We just made our Work on Writing folder today, as today was the first day Work on Writing was introduced in class.


 We begin each language arts block by reviewing the CAFE strategy we added to our board the day before. In our notebooks, we record the strategy, draw a small picture to help us remember, write the secret to success, and then students reflect on what the strategy means to their own reading comprehension.  I've been really impressed with how well this is working.  It takes about 10 minutes for students to complete.


We then discuss our Daily 4 rotations (again, I am doing the Daily 4 in my classroom - Read to Self, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Listen to Reading {which is my read aloud}).  In my room, we will always to Read to Self first - the main reason is that we've just reviewed the cafe strategy, and I want my students to work on applying that strategy to their independent reading.  This week we've been working on discussing what "good readers" do and look like, and setting a purpose for our reading.  Any important information is recorded in the daily 5 (4) section of our notebooks.

Today was the first day we started discussing Working on Writing.  We began by brainstorming reasons why we write (think-pair-share activity), then I modeled the strategy of underlining words that are difficult to spell while working independently.  We recorded both minilessons in our notebook.



Following this, I introduce our new CAFE strategy for the day (the book recommends adding 3 strategies a day, but with everything else going on in our language block, I feel that reviewing the last strategy and adding a new strategy is enough for one class).  We discuss what the new strategy means, then post it on our board.    During our read aloud (next), I model how the strategy is used, and ask students to help me use the strategy and apply it to our reading.  When I finish reading for the day, I choose a question from my Comprehension Question Fan for students to answer in their reader response notebooks.  Students need to show where they have used our "RESPOND TO READING" strategies (CRAFT board) in their answer.

Whew ... I think that about covers it.  Right now I'm only left with about 15 minutes at the end of each language block.  We've been using that 15 minutes to start our personal memoir writing workshop unit.  So far, all is good in the language arts world.  My students are really starting to be able to explain the CRAFT strategies, and apply these strategies to their own reading.  They are building their stamina during independent reading, and I'm so excited that we've added Work on Writing this week.  I'll let you know how it's all coming together next week.

So, this was a long one ... hope you're all having a fabulous "wordy Wednesday"!!!









26 comments

  1. You always have great information and awesome posts...I always eagerly await your next post! Thanks for sharing what you do!

    :) Kaitlyn
    Smiles and Sunshine

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  2. I think I need to read that about 5 more times.

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  3. The comprehension fan is adorable!!!

    Http://lasotaslittlelearners.blogspot.com

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  4. I teach in a small school, combined 5/6!!! Guess how many kiddos I have this year? 9!!! Last year I had 18 :). Fun to find someone in the same scenario I am :)

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  5. Thank you for sharing. I always look forward to your posts and all the information that you share. I'd love to be a child in your class!

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  6. We just began reading Wonder as our class read aloud, too!

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  7. OK...you have me REALLY thinking right now. Check your email.
    Steph

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  8. I love these posts Jen--I think it's fascinating to see what you are doing with your students. Thank you!!

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  9. You have totally inspired my math journals this year! :) I gave you a shout out in my last post. You can check it out here:Teaching Happily Ever After

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  10. Thank you for posting all of this! It is so inspiring and amazing! This is making my return to Gr. 5/6 so much more exciting!

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  11. I love that you do this in 5/6 grade! What I'm really loving is them writing it down in their notebooks.

    Journey of a Substitute Teacher
    and
    Endless Pinabilities!

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  12. You always make things look so easy :) Thanks for encouraging so many people!
    Elizabeth

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  13. Thank you so much for sharing, would love to see what you did in Language Arts EVERY week! You are such an inspiration to teaching! Thanks for all you do!
    Jen

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  14. I just read your post about Daily 5/CAFE. I wanted to thank you for such detail in your post. It helps me visualize what I want to do in my class.

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  15. I am also an Ontario teacher and I'd like to know how you are able to have 100 minutes for Literacy. Is it 100 minutes unbroken? Do you have a Balanced Day? We have 40 min. blocks in our Board, and the longest period of time we have unbroken is 80 min. I'm envious of your extra 20 minutes!

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  16. please tell me how you run the daily 4. It sounds like at the beginning you all do read to self. Then you must do the working on words and working on writing. then it sounds like you do the read aloud at the end of the time block and they respond in reader response journals.

    I have moved up to junior after 10 years in kindergarten. So, every day do you have a different working with words and working on writing activity? It doesn't sound the the students rotate.

    in their binders I understand about the reading response journals and the CRAFT/daily 4 notebook. I also have a book with the activities that they choose from when they are finished their read to self books.
    what do you put in their working on writing books? The other question is that in their binders you have sections for reading,writing and media. Is this when you are done the daily 4 block of time and you have the additional 45 minutes where you work on particular writing worshops etc?

    I was also wondering if you have ideas of what you use during working on writing and working on words.

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  17. We are reading aloud Wonder also. Fabulous book!

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  18. We are reading Wonder as well. You must check out this fabulous resource: http://www.helpreaderslovereading.com/2012/03/wonder-by-r-j-palacio.html

    In the links on the page he has pictures related to multiple items noted in the book. For example, a picture of Doogie Howser, Mr T, and a comparision between the Tuba and the baritone horn.

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  19. Hi! I absolutely love your blog and get some fabulous ideas! I bought your memoir writing unit a few weeks ago and it has been a complete success in my classroom! Thank you! I would like to purchase your persuasive writing unit but so far can't seem to find it posted on Teachers Pay Teachers any longer. Any suggestions? Thanks for all you do!

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  21. Did you create the strategies for the R in CAFE/CRAFT? Are they available somewhere?

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  22. Hello! I am very curious about the other letters in CRAFT. You posted strategies for R..but what about the other letters? Could you send me what you had for those as well...or post a picture? I love all of your material and strategies!! Excellent work!

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  23. Hey Jen! I am JoLynn Burke...aka TeachingEnthusiast. I am curious about the concept of CRAFT. Is this a visual tool for students to refer as they move through their reading block...or do they work on a specific letter per day...depending on which one they begin with on Monday? I also would like to see how the other letters developed by the end of the year..like you did with the snapshot of the letter R in CRAFT. Could you share them as well? Thanks so much! Grateful that you are sharing your work with the rest of us!! :)

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  24. Hi Jen! I am implementing D5/CRAFT this fall and am having trouble figuring out how to "grade" the students. We report grades frequently, and I know it will be important for my admin to see a list of scores. Do you use rubrics for the different areas, or have any other advice?

    Thanks!
    Shannon

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  25. Aloha Jen,
    Would you tell me where I might find the other letters for CRAFT? I love everything you are doing in your classroom! Thank you for always sharing!

    Mahalo,
    Leilani

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  26. Hi Jen,
    I see you wrote this post several years ago. I'm wondering if you are still using Daily 5 and CRAFT in your daily language block. I am curious how you have refined it over the years.

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