These articles include all the forms we use to set up our conferring notebook, along with the CAFÉ Menu itself.
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CAFE-Historical Overview-(DOWNLOAD) One thing we love about teaching is the evolving nature of it. As professionals, we are always learning and growing, refining our craft so we can best meet the needs of our ever changing children. Many of you have asked how we got to the point where we are today…and as we look back at our journey we discover our own personal continuum. Though we have always worked very hard and have been passionate about what we do, our approaches to delivering whole group, small group, and one-on-one instruction have changed dramatically as we have become familiar with . . . more . . . CAFE - Fluency: Read Appropriate Level Text That are a "Good Fit" - Ready Reference Guide Fluency has been kind of a buzz word in recent years. Years ago, the term fluency was used in conjunction with reading aloud, and anyone who's been transported during a great read aloud will tend to agree. A gifted reader has the ability to capture our rapt attention and launch an adventure by mixing their words with our imagination. In more recent years, the critical role fluency plays in comprehension has come to light. . . . more . . . CAFE - Holding Students Accountable After the Conference (DOWNLOAD) Don't you love the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that follows a really successful informal conference with a child? You know the ones….your conversation was engaging and authentic, your teaching point was perfectly delivered and applicable, the child got back to work right away….and you wished your principal had been there to see it all play out. Then, the pleasure turns to dismay the next time you check in, because they can't remember what they were supposed to be focusing on. Sigh. We've been there. . . . more . . . CAFE - Curricular Coherence, Working Together with Interventions (DOWNLOAD) In September, our grade level meetings are characterized by lively conversations about our hopes and dreams for the students in our charge. By October they have taken on a new energy and sense of urgency. What more can we do for the students who are not meeting standard or making the progress we'd like to see? Many of our struggling students are receiving extra support via Title funds, Special Education services, English Language Learner support, tutoring, etc., but we don't always see the growth we'd like when our most at risk students leave us for fragmented portions of the day. How can we design really intentional and effective interventions for these students that will give us the needed results? . . . more . . . CAFE - Recording Your Reading History (DOWNLOAD) Do you keep a Reading Log, carefully recording title, author, genre and comments regarding every book you read? Few of us do. So why do so many of us ask our students to keep a Reading Log? Is there a purpose in requiring our students to do this specific task, which so few of us do ourselves, or are we asking students to spend considerable time on a task that may not have purpose or meaning in real life? . . . more . . . CAFE - Lesson 4-Beginning the Literacy Cafe Menu: Back up and Reread (article) The million dollar question is always, "Which strategies on the Café Menu do we introduce first? Is there a standard sequential order in which we teach the strategies? Alas, if there were a perfect system to introduce strategies to all children that allowed them to become exquisite readers, no doubt we would all be using it! Instead, there are a myriad of considerations to make; we must think about the students in our class this year and their needs. Of course we must also keep in mind what has worked for students in the past as well as what we know to be true about proficient readers. Following the first three strategies we present to children, Comprehension-Check for Understanding, Accuracy-Cross Checking and Expand Vocabulary-Tune into Interesting Words, we typically layer on this comprehension strategy that also supports accuracy: . . . more . . . CAFE - Partnering with Parents; Communicating Cafe Skills and Strategies (DOWNLOAD) Parents can be an untapped resource for continuing the work that is taking place in the classroom. Giving parents ideas for how they might support their child's learning at home can be as simple as informing them of the skills and strategies we are currently practicing the classroom. Below is the link to our newsletter . . . more . . . CAFE - Lesson 3-Beginning the Literacy Cafe Menu: Tune in to Interesting Words (article) When introducing the Café Menu to our students, we consistently begin with the same three strategies: Check for Understanding to build Comprehension; Cross Checking, to increase Accuracy; and Tune in to Interesting Words for Expanding Vocabulary. The first lesson under Expand Vocabulary - Tune in to Interesting Words sounds something like this, regardless of our students age: . . . more . . . CAFE - Cross Checking - Ready Reference Guide The accuracy strategy of Cross Checking is one of the first four strategies we teach, or reinforce, to all of our students. It is one of those fundamental and essential strategies we find all kids benefit from knowing. If you aren't sure of what the strategy is, or how to teach it, download this Ready Reference form. It is one of our guides that you will find for each of the CAFÉ Strategies. . . . more . . . CAFE - Lesson 2 - Beginning The Literacy Cafe Menu: Cross Checking (Article) Introducing the Literacy Café Menu: Cross-Checking, Whole Group Strategy Lesson Two After the first introductory lesson to the Café Menu, Comprehension, Check for Understanding, we like the second strategy to go under a different heading on the board. So we chose something that fits under Accuracy, Fluency, or Expanding Vocabulary. The strategy you choose to introduce will depend upon your group of students and . . . more . . . CAFE - Check for Understanding - Ready Reference Guide (DOWNLOAD) Gail was discussing the strategies on the CAFÉ Menu when Cindy, a second grade teacher announced, "I could teach these skills and strategies if I only knew what you meant by each title. And how do I know my interpretation of the strategy is the same as my teaching partners? Wouldn't it be helpful to our students if we were using the same definitions and language?" . . . more . . . CAFE - Lesson 1 - Beginning The Literacy Cafe Menu: Check for Understanding (ARTICLE) We both love a good recipe. When someone cooks or bakes something we like, we ask for the recipe -- and then when it's given to us, we ask for even more advice. Are there any special tips we should know before baking in our wet Seattle climate? Are there any ways the veteran chef has changed the recipe to make it even tastier? We get as much detailed advice as we can before trying a new recipe. It's a funny thing though -- we want as many details as possible so the recipe will turn out well, but we inevitably end up adjusting the original to make it our own. . . . more . . . CAFE - Curriculum Calendar (DOWNLOAD) During our CAFE classes, we share the form we use for mapping out our whole group lessons for the year. We refer to this as our Curriculum Calendar. Many of you have asked for a copy of our Curriculum Calendar and we are happy to share it with you. We started this mapping process when we were trying to balance our basal skills and strategies, our state standards and then our district standards. There were so many details, we couldn't possible "cover" every skill and strategy and keep track o . . . more . . . CAFE - Literacy Cafe Menu Bulletin Board Headings (DOWNLOAD) We have received overwhelming requests from members to make available downloads of the Literacy Cafe headings we use on the bulletin board in our classroom. So here they are! There is a link below to each heading, one large 8x10 and one small 5x8, for you to download and print off if you wish. This is the only component of our Cafe Menu Bulletin Board that is teacher made. All of the strategy cards are created by students. We used to make the strategy cards on our computer, complete with beautiful fonts and clip-art, but now we don't. We've learned over time that the person who does the most work does the most learning. We sure learned a lot that year we created all the cards. What we learned is that the students didn't actually SEE the cards when we created them. Students never used the cards or referred back to them when they were created by us. Now, the words are in their handwriting and they like looking at the pictures their classmates create to illustrate the strategies. . . . more . . . CAFE - Cross Checking Lesson Plan (DOWNLOAD) Cindy, a teacher at Gail's school, once remarked during a conversation, "I can teach the strategies if you give me a clue as to what you mean by 'flip the sound', or 'cross checking', etc. Shouldn't we all be consistent with our terminology and teaching so we don't confuse the students?" We realized she was right! We all peek at the CAFÉ Menu through the lens of our own background knowledge, and it would be really helpful if we could synchronize our understanding and vocabulary. . . . more . . . CAFE - Steps for Conferring (DOWNLOAD) When people started asking us to share what our conferences with children looked and sounded like, we had to step back and be really cognizant of the elements that created their structure. We began taking notes, writing down exactly what we were doing and saying, and e-mailing them back and forth to each other. As we poured over them, a common thread became apparent…we weren't focusing so much on what they were reading and how they liked it and when they thought they would finish, etc. (an informal conference), but had shifted to a conference that was more like a coaching . . . more . . . CAFE - Conferring Sheet Sample - Part I (DOWNLOAD) Our conferring used to consist of in-depth conversations with students which focused on their family, their feelings about reading, elements of story grammar and good summaries. We believed that in order to have a meaningful conference we had to have first hand knowledge of the text so we could hold them accountable for really reading, and not, as Cris Tovani coined, "Fake Reading." We were, to some degree, the reading police. Subtly over time our conferences took on the roll of support . . . more . . . CAFE - Conferring Sheet with Icons - Part II (DOWNLOAD) This form reflects our newest form that we include in our Pensieve. We use it to scaffold teachers who are new to using a conferring notebook. It will help keep your conferences short and focused. This is the blank version of the Sample Conferring Sheet seen in the first part of this series. The icons are intended to be visual reminders of conference components, but if you prefer a form without icons, stay tuned for part three of this series. . . . more . . . CAFE - Conferring Sheet, Reading - Part III (DOWNLOAD) If you prefer a conferring form without icons, here it is. We run them back to back and keep a copy for each child in our pensieve. When the form is full of writing, we replace it with a clean one and transfer the full one to our assessment notebook or student file. These become an invaluable source for celebrating growth . . . 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- Strategy Groups (DOWNLOAD) There are many options for delivering literacy instruction. Whether we choose whole group, small group, or one on one instruction, we keep in mind that grouping children for instruction is a method for facilitating learning--it is not an end in itself. This little form - very simple, completely flexible, sometimes a bit messy, is the heart of managing our groups. . . . more . . . CAFE - Reading Writing Checksheet (DOWNLOAD) The reading writing check sheet is a big picture of who we have met with one on one. It is the first sheet in our pensieve and the second form we consult before standing up from a guided group to head off to our first conference during that round of Daily 5. The first form we check is the calendar. We look to see who we have made an appointment with, and make a mental note to visit with that child or those children first. Then we consult our reading writing check . . . more . . . CAFE - Writing Conferring Sheet (DOWNLOAD) This is the writing version of our reading conferring sheet. We run them back to back and keep a copy for each child in our pensieve. When we have filled the form with our conferring notes, we replace it with a clean one and transfer the full one to our assessment notebook or student file. See the links below for more information on conferring as well as conferring sheets that we have made availiable . . . more . . . CAFE - Word Collector (DOWNLOAD) This simple form is a great tool for the children who are focused on increasing their vocabulary. It makes collecting, learning and retrieving vocabulary easy, helping student's comprehension increase as well as incorporate the new words into their writing and conversations. Whether you use this form or have the students make their own in . . . more . . .