The Daily 5 and CAFE "Review"

Hi Hi Hi

Whew! I just finished reading The Daily 5 and The CAFE book by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. I originally searched high and low for The Daily 5 and eventually ordered it online. I don't know that I've ever been excited to receive a book in the mail before...so that was a first for me. The book came Friday afternoon and I was finished with it by Friday evening. It's a very easy read...plus I just used my comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary skills to get it done quickly (ha, classic CAFE joke...you wouldn't get it unless you read the book...okay, maybe you would)

If you don't know anything at all about these two books this post wont make sense and isn't worth reading. I don't intend to go into much detail becuase honestly, if you are interested in implementing this into your classroom, you must read the books. I knew next to nothing about The Daily 5 or CAFE on Friday afternoon, and now I feel fully capable and confident that I can begin pre-planning for this management system in my classroom tomorrow.

What I do want to do is highlight a few quotes and things that I found interesting in each of the books. These were things that made me say, "aha" or "ooo" or "exactly!" or "haha."

The Daily 5:

"...stay out of the way and let them read." (p25) This quote is referring to once you have established routine and built stamina. I've always thought an excellent teacher is one that is always circulating the room, but this makes so much sense to give them a chance to monitor themselves and be accountable for their own progress. "aha"

The Good Fit Book lesson idea with the shoes...doing this. I love it. (p30-31)

Another idea that is great for a beginning teacher like myself who does not have enough books for each child to have 3-8 in their own book box: utilize the local library. I looked it up and our local library allows you to check out 100 items at a time... :O Of course, you need to be careful to keep track of where all of those books are but that will be so helpful for launching the Daily 5! (p34)

"Memory stored in the kinesthetic system evokes the longest memory." (p36)

Signals for transitions - use something that is "different enough to grab the attention of our highly kinesthetic children, but not obtrusive enough to upset our auditory children" (p39)  They suggest something like chimes...hmmm I need to find something for this.

Correct/Incorrect model - Using a student that you know thrives on attention. Having them be goofy doing the incorrect model and then model the correct way. That student comes to realize they get just as much attention doing it the correct way. Plus, the know that you know they can do it. Two birds - one Stone.

The CAFE Book:

"Flexible Grouping" means based on strategies individual students need to work on at a given time. NOT reading levels. I used to think that flexible grouping just meant leveled groups that students could move up and down in. WRONGO! It makes much more sense now. In hindsight, I would have answered an interview question differently when they asked me to elaborate on "flexible groups." Turns out I didn't know what I was talking about.

"The more whole-class teaching offered, the lower the academic achievement in any school." (p10)

"The approximate age of the students is the approximate number of minutes they can sustain higher-level thinking with group instruction." (p115)

IN CONCLUSION:

I will tell you, I have never been more excited to try something new in the world of teaching.  If you're reading this and you already use Daily 5/CAFE I'd love to hear about how your experience is so far or any advice you have! I'm new to the teacher blogging world so any responses from fellow teacher bloggers pretty much makes my day. :)


Miss KindergarDunn