To my fellow teachers who use Daily 5 and/or CAFE in their classrooms: I have a few suggestions for you. Take them or leave them! 1) Let your students make the CAFE menu cards. This is HIGHLY recommended by "The Sisters," and I have seen the benefits of doing so in my classroom. The students become "experts" on the strategies. They take more ownership for their learning. Yes, we like to make everything pretty and neat and typed up, but, trust me, you will see the benefits of letting the students take control. I even did this with my kindergartners. 2) As the book recommends, make the I-Charts with your students, instead of having pretty typed-up pre-made I-Charts displayed at the beginning of the year. Again, this allows students to take more ownership of their own learning. Post them at eye-level and in a way that allows them to be removed for frequent review. 3) I would strongly encourage you to let your students choose what they would like to do for each round, instead of choosing for them. I follow the sisters' suggested way of tracking what students do, and I can't imagine doing it any other way (please let me know if you would like more info). At first it may be difficult to trust your students, but it can be done. Of course, I am not an expert in all things Daily 5 and CAFE, and I recognize that every classroom/student/school/teacher is different. However, I have been implementing both in my classroom for 4 years, and I find that the more control I give to students, the more successful and proud they become.
Completely agree! They become responsible for their own learning. On Fridays, I even allow them to choose the same daily over and over again. Most choose their two favorite. This week one of my students chose work on writing and copied definitions for every land form she could think of using a dictionary. Another read to self the entire Boxcar Children #2 after I just finished #1 to the class.
Thanks for that, DP! This is my first year using D5, but I had never actually read the book. All the information I had was what I obtained from here, and youtube. I am happy to announce that my The Daily 5 book arrived on Saturday so beginning next year, I will be actually doing it the way it was intended. I never knew about the I-charts so I never did those with my kids, nor have I ever spent the amount of time on practicing the daily 5s like they recommend. I certainly will next year.
Allowing for student choice is crucial! My kids LOVE THAT! If there are times when I need to make choices for them... they get soooo moody! And practice more than you think in the beginning.... it pays off. And throughout the year, check in on the behavior and expectations, they'll always need a refresher- especially with Read to Someone.
I even have the kids choose ahead of time for a sub. They check in on the smartboard and I print it off and tuck it into my sub folder. The kids still have the sense of choosing even though that chart was made back in October!
Great idea, Rabbitt! Every once in a while, usually on a day before a break, if we have time to fill, I'll announce that we are actually going to do all 5 rounds in one day (we usually only have time for 2-3). They absolutely LOVE that, and I've even used it as a class reward!
AMA...once in a while do all the Daily 5 rounds in one day even if it's just 10 minutes each. Or do them 10 minutes each but 7 rounds. they LOVE this
Thanks for the added input. I'm one of those "neat and tidy" and my folders for each subject we do have to be color corrdianated with labels....I love typed labels! *sigh* but if it's for the good of the student.....I'll think about it. I just got my Daily 5 and the Cafe Book to read and breath through this summer....I can hardly wait to really dive into them.
For the cards- The first time is in pencil. Then they go over in Sharpie. It gives me a chance to ask them to make a letter neater, add spaces, etc. I have a laminated card on which I write the sample. It helps kids with spacing and spelling. I just reuse. We discuss picture ideas ahead of time- brainstorm as a class as to what conveys the idea the best. Final choice to the student making the card.
I love the laminated card idea! I have 2 CAFE menus, so I usually write the words on one card with a yellow highlighter, and they trace over it. The other one they write on their own.
Okay, I'm thinking about doing the daily 5/cafe next year. It seems like what I'm already doing, just structured in a different way. When my students wrote about what they learned in reading this year, they didn't understand the different between the strategies used for accuracy/comprehension/fluency... I know they knew the strategies but they didn't know the difference. I think this will help. Have you guys seen this blog? I like the CRAFT idea a lot. http://www.ladybugsteacherfiles.com/2012/03/craft-board-headers-free-download.html My school is doing this for professional development next year, but not until October, so I'd like to get a head start. Which book out of the two do you recommend?
I have never seen the CRAFT idea...I kind of like it! The only thing I don't like, for myself personally, is that she took the vocabulary element out. She did so because it is covered in her ELL newcomer class. That makes sense, but I think it is a very important category for most classrooms. For my higher readers, vocabulary is one of their biggest struggles, and having strategies to determine meaning is essential. I don't like the pre-made cards, though...They are very "pretty," but the sisters suggest students make the cards. If you had to purchase only one of the two books, I would suggest Daily 5. The organization/management of the tasks is a crucial piece!
We started Daily 5 in school this year and I am looping up with my class so it will be easier to get going this year. I'm going to implement Daily 5 Math this year. I think it will give my students more practice with skills they are weak in. Anyone have experience with this?
Swan...you will notice that their stamina grows quicker because they had it before. I too am looking into the Daiky 5 math. My school is pretty set on how we teach math so I am curious how it will fit in. But then again, I was hesitant withe Daily 5 at first too and now could not do without it. :lol:
As a team, we teach the same topics in math at the same time, but I am free to teach them any way I want. I thought Daily 5 might give my students a change of pace from how we did math this year.
