I attended the workshop in Chicago this weekend. I have been using Daily 5 for years now but not the CAFE in the way it is intended. I left yesterday all set to dive in and start using it. I taught a whole group lesson on asking questions and we practiced with partners (the kids did great!). I was able to sit with about 9 students individually today. I wanted to have a strategy for each kid to work on until I saw them again. Several of my kids read their books with no issue. They are high readers so I assuming they should be picking harder books. Should I be suggesting books for them? Even when I saw my higher kids in small group they would easily read books that were above their level. What do you suggest I should be doing with these students? Even some of my mid-level readers did great with their books. I feel like I’m struggling with finding a strategy they need to work on. I’m hoping it’s because it’s new for me but wondering if you have any suggestions for me. I’m ready to ditch my guided-leveled reading groups in favor or strategy groups and one on one conferring but just want to make sure I’m doing it right. I have looked at all the lesson available on the website and there are so many great resources. Are those meant for whole group lessons? It was my understanding that when conferring one on one or in small strategy groups the kids would be all working with their own books. I’m really exciting about this new approach but just a little unsure still.
Thanks for your help!
Your enthusiasm shines through your post . You might want to go back and review the “Good Fit Books” lesson, emphasizing that we want to choose books that are not too hard OR too easy. They probably got comfortable choosing books that fit when you introduced them to the lesson, but they may not feel comfortable–or know how–to move on to good fit books now that they have become stronger readers. You can do this as a whole group lesson, and reinforce in small groups or individual conferring .
Perhaps you might want to choose higher level comprehension strategies to work on with those students. Maybe fluency could use some work, and vocabulary building is always good to work on when the students are reading all kinds of books. That’s another piece to look at–are they always choosing fiction books–can you introduce appropriate non-fiction books for them to tackle? (or vice versa) How about poetry?
Many lessons showcased on the site are whole group lessons, but certainly could be adapted for strategy groups. There are also lots of videos of strategy group work and individual conferring lessons on the site. You can use the search feature to find them, or check out the interactive CAFE Menu that lists all related videos and other support materials.
If you want to use rubrics to check if your kiddos truly have the strategies down, there is a rubric for almost every strategy on the Menu. They also can be found on the Interactive Menu, listed as Assessing Student Learning, such as this one for asking questions throughout reading. https://www.thedailycafe.com/sites/default/files/files/files/C-Ask_Questions_Throughout_the_Reading_Process-Assessment.pdf
We’re so glad you got to attend the workshop and are enthusiastically jumping in to expand your CAFE work. We look forward to you sharing your successes and asking your questions here with us.
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