The Daily CAFE is a video-rich website designed to help teachers who are using the Daily 5 and CAFE Menu assessment programs in their classrooms. The content on this site is updated continuously, and features professionally filmed and edited video from more than a dozen K-8 classrooms, all at an affordable price - $29 for a three-month subscription, or $69 for an annual subscription. The website requires no special software or downloads for viewing materials, and access is available to members from any computer at home or school 24 hours a day.

Here are some free sample videos and downloads to give you a sense of the kinds of materials you'll find in the members only areas of this site. We currently have over 120 videos, articles, and print downloads available on the site for members, with 12-15 new features added each month.

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Daily 5 - Troubleshooting (DOWNLOAD AND VIDEO) The number one question we hear from teachers using Daily 5 is, "What do I do about students who struggle to sustain interest in independent tasks?" This video is the first in a series titled, "Troubleshooting Daily 5: Working with Kids Who Struggle with Independence." It features some of our favorite Trouble Shooting Tools being used with Alise, a second grade student who has a very difficult time staying in one spot and reading the whole time. Her off task behaviors are inhibiting her ability to grow as a reader. . . . more . . . The Literacy CAFE Menu (DOWNLOAD) CAFÉ is an acronym for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary, four research-based components critical to reading. We developed it as a guide and system to focus our instruction, help students set reading and behavior goals, monitor their progress--and do it all without losing our sanity! As teachers, CAFÉ enables us to stay focused on children's needs and goals as well as keep records that help us plan focused individual conferences, flexible small-group instruction and whole-class lessons. This CAFÉ menu identifies the skills and processes we've researched and . . . more . . . CAFE - Holding a Student Accountable for Reading (VIDEO) Do you find that your older students or your reluctant readers of any age are frequently abandoning books? Pam, a sixth grade teacher shows us one way to address this situation with her student Artur. Pam confers with Artur about his goal of reading twenty minutes each night and logging in details about his reading. After he shares many of his reasons for not reading for twenty minutes, Pam gets to the heart of the issue, he continues to abandon books. She sets the expectation that . . . more . . . Daily 5 - Launching Read to Self (DOWNLOAD) Do you ever wish you had the Cliff Notes to a book you have read? We know exactly how that feels. While we were creating the Daily 5 we use to take note paper into our classrooms to jot down what to teach that day so we could also reflect on teaching and learning. . . . more . . . Daily 5 - Launching Read To Self - "I" Chart, Part I (VIDEO) Asking the class to think about and articulate what goes on the 'I Chart" for Read to Self is one of the vital steps for launching or fine tuning this critical Daily 5 component. When students define what it will look like, sound like and feel like when they are independent, they are enabled to understand and sucessfully meet the expectations. The chart content will be similiar, whether made in September or mid year, as in this video. The featured 4th graders create an I-chart together and have had some previous Daily 5 exposure. Classroom charts vary . . . more . . . CAFE - Conferring with a Beginning Reader - Part II (VIDEO) We are tickled to introduce you to a hysterical kindergartner named Devlin. Joan models reviewing the phonemic awareness strategies of segment onset and rime and then moves into the review of blending the cvc words to build off of what Devlin knows. By the end of the conference, the instructional direction Devlin needed became clear and was recorded onto the Reading Conferring Form. . . . more . . . Design - Seven Steps to Designing Physical Space (DOWNLOAD) Once the reflecting process and planning for your classroom environment is complete (or you are just tired of thinking about it and want your room changed RIGHT NOW) - these 7 steps may be just what you need to get started. When reconfiguring a classroom or moving into a new one, it can be tricky to see the space through new eyes. Some of the phrases that we hear or have used ourselves that interfere with change are, "I have to have the room set up this way because it's how I always do it." Or "My desk has to go over there." To begin with a clear head we move . . . more . . . CAFE - Literacy Cafe Menu (PHOTO) Thousands of you have asked to see a photo of The Café Menu in our Classroom. Here is a picture of Joan's Café Menu taken in early November of last year. The Café starts with the black heading titles at the top and the colored sheets below. Beginning the first day of school, we start introducing and teaching the strategies from the Café Menu. Once the strategies are taught and modeled for a few days, we have a child take a blank card from the cache of cards located in a clear pocket on the lower left side of the Café board, write up the strategy and post it in its correct place on the board. The Café Menu board is built together. Once each child has been assessed, together we look at the Café Menu and set their goal: Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency or Expand Vocabulary. Each child then takes a small sticky note, writes their name on it and puts it below the Café Menu title that corresponds with their goal. . . . more . . . Daily 5 - 10 Steps to Teaching and Learning Independence (DOWNLOAD) This download is a staple for our Daily Five presentations. We think these 10 steps are what set Daily Five apart from any other system. These are the steps we use to teach students how to be independent at just about anything.In addition to Daily Five tasks, we've used them in Math, Science, even with . . . more . . . CAFE - Teacher Reflection about CAFE (VIDEO) Following is a debrief interview with Kelly, a first grade and featured teacher on The Daily Café. In this video, Kelly shares how she uses The Literacy Cafe with her whole group, small groups and individuals. Kelly shares that knowing the Cafe Menu strategies has helped make her teaching more concise, focused and powerful. . . . more . . .