The CAFE Book: Chapter 2

We will be continuing our book study this week by reflecting on Chapter 2 of The CAFE Book: Engaging ALL students in Daily Literacy Assessment & Instruction.

I continue to be inspired by Gail and Joan. They truly support Every Child, Every Day with tailored instruction that meets the needs of all students.  Chapter 2: The CAFE Notebook and Record-Keeping Forms walks us through setting up a conferring notebook. The 2 Sisters refer to the CAFE Notebook as the Pensieve. There is a cute story on page 16 that describes how the conferring notebook came to be called the Pensieve. It has something to do with Harry Potter. I have not been a fan of that genre of literature. I haven’t read the books nor have I seen the movies so I can't really make a connection. In a nutshell, the Pensieve is where the head wizard stores all of “his most important thinking and memories out of his brain” (p. 16). Pensieve is a fitting name for the notebook, because this is where the teacher keeps notes on all the important conversations they have with students to help move them forward as learners.

Gail and Joan recommend setting up the Pensieve in the following way:

Section 1: Teacher Notes

• Calendar to make appointments with students – keeping accountability
• Keeping Track Form to keep track of when you have met with students and ensure no one falls through the cracks
• Strategy Group Forms: used to create flexible groups of students that have similar goals.

Section 2: Data

• Fountas & Pinnell instructional reading levels
• Phonemic Awareness data and progress monitoring 

Section 3: Dividers/Tabs for each child

• CAFE Menu to note which strategies the child has mastered and is working on.
• Reading/Writing Conference Sheet to keep anecdotes on conversations the teacher has with students.

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Participating in this week's  book study is evidence of:

Domain 1: Planning & Preparing-

1c: Setting Instructional Outcomes

Domain 3: Instruction-

3d: Using Assessment in Instruction  

Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities -

4a: Reflecting on Teaching

4d: Participating in a Professional Community

4e: Growing and Developing Professionally    

Boushey, G. &  Moser, M. (2009) The CAFÉ Book: Engaging ALL students in Daily Assessment and Instruction.