Wednesday 9 December 2015

Are you Doing It? Daily 5, CAFE, Daily 3 Math

Submitted by Denise Litke, Instructional Coach
The 2 Sisters Live in Calgary
Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015

It seems like many teachers in FSD are talking Daily 5 and CAFÉ.  So what’s the big deal?  If you are like me, and other teachers who have read the books (yes, both editions), gone to conferences and implemented them into their classrooms, you may be asking . . . why aren’t you?  I have to admit, the main reason I bought into the Daily 5/CAFÉ is the credibility of  “the Sisters” - Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  They are in classrooms (and still are today), trying things out, reflecting on their practice – both the successes and the failures – and really listening to what the research is telling them about student learning.

I have struggled with what information is important to share with you on a blog, so after many stops and starts I have decided to give you the key points as I see them.

Daily 5
The Daily 5 holds no Language Arts content.  Our content comes from the Alberta Program of Studies. The Daily 5 is a management structure, which teaches children to work independently on 5 meaningful tasks (Read to Self, Work on Writing, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading and Word Work), so that the teacher can work with individuals and small groups in response to their needs. What’s important?  Students need to read and write every day, so a Daily 3 or even a Daily 2 might be more conducive to what works in your class. Chunk your instruction – brain research says if you are teaching ten year olds?  Then, have ten minutes of instruction. Allow for choice.  This perpetuates engagement.

Daily 3 Math
Like the Daily 5, the Daily 3 Math holds no content.  It is a structure used to teach students to be independent during math time, so the teacher can work with individuals and small groups.  Daily 3 Math Activities – Math By Myself, Math Writing, Math with someone – are the “practice and reinforcement related to the current unit of study.”

CAFÉ
“The CAFÉ system is [their] method for integrating assessment into daily reading and classroom instruction.  CAFÉ is an acronym for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary.”  It is through the CAFÉ that reading strategies are introduced in each of the previously mentioned areas and students apply and set goals around the ones they use in order to become better readers.

Got you interested?  Want to learn more about the Daily 5, the CAFÉ, the Daily 3 Math? Then I would encourage you to read the books, go to a conference or talk to colleagues and others who are currently using it in their classrooms!

 Boushey, Gail and Moser, Joan.  The Daily 5 2nd Edition Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades. Pembroke Publishers, Ontario, 2014. P. 3, 16, 18.