The CAFE Book: Chapter 1

I am a Reading Specialist at an elementary school that consists of kindergarten through second grade students. I am helping teachers implement Daily 5 and CAFE. We are currently embarking on a book study that will take us through The CAFE Book. This week I am reading and reflecting on Chapter 1: Introduction: The beginnings of the CAFE Menu Assessment System. 

How do we (teachers) create “strategic, independent, thoughtful readers” (p. 11)

One of the ways we create strategic readers is by setting up our literacy blocks using The Daily 5 structure. Through The Daily 5 structure, teachers teach students the behaviors that support and build successful, independent readers. It is WHAT students are doing while the teacher is teaching. The second way to create independent readers is by using The CAFE system of assessment and instruction.

            Gail and Joan have taken the best research on effective teaching practices and have bundled them under The CAFE Book: Engaging ALL Students in Daily Assessment and Instruction (2009). There are three core elements of CAFE: record-keeping; students and teachers meeting for assessment, explicit instruction and goal-setting; and the teacher is planning effective whole-group, small-group and individual conferring lessons. The goal of CAFE is to meet “each student’s need with tailored instruction” (p 10).

            CAFE is strongly supported by research (p. 9). Gail and Joan have leaned on the top reading researchers in the field, like Richard Allington, Regie Routman and Michael Pressley, as they developed The CAFE system of assessment and instruction. The research says that students must spend their day with materials that they can read – “Good-Fit Books” (p. 9). Additionally the most effective classrooms are structured with “whole-class, small-group and side-by-side instruction” (p. 9). Not only does The CAFE incorporate this research into their system of assessment and instruction, they teach teachers how to implement the research effectively.

            I am in love with Gail and Joan and their contributions to quality instruction for all students. I’ve been to their Daily 5 and CAFE workshops (in sunny SoCal). I’ve taken their graduate class and seen them present at the ORA Institute in Portland. I’ve read and re-read Daily 5 and CAFE and follow The 2 Sisters on twitter (@gailandjoan) and on Facebook (The Daily CAFE). Finally, I have had the pleasure of presenting my own PD to colleagues. As teachers, we have to teach and develop a classroom structure that supports the love of reading. Daily 5 and CAFE are my answer to WHAT and HOW I teach students.

Participating in this book study is evidence of professional practice as defined by Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching. This week's participation is evidence of 

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.

A Brand New School Year

This school year has brought many new beginnings. We are a new building. We are implementing different assessments and we are beginning a different way of instructing.
To begin with, we are a new building. Last year our building contained kindergarten through 6th grade students. This year we have changed to having only kindergarten through 2nd grade students. In addition we now house ALL kindergarten through 2nd grade students in the city. That means we have 400 ~ 5-8 year old's. This new configuration brought challenges. Now we are concentrated and one very challenging student per class in a K-6 school has become one challenging student in 15 classrooms. It was a shock at first. We are building the plane as we are flying it, so to speak. It took time to figure it out, but things have mellowed and students are progressing! Another challenge is the results of our assessments. We did not feel very good about the results of our Fountas and Pinnell reading scores when we completed our benchmark assessments in September. We have a big hill to climb to get the scores to where we want them to be. Along with the challenges, came some positives. We now have FULL DAY Kindergarten! This is so exciting. I love having those little guys around all day. They are so excited to be in school and they have happy smiles all day. 

Next, we are implementing different assessments this year. We administered the annual Fountas & Pinnell benchmark assessment in September to first and second grade teachers. I trained and calibrated first and second grade teachers so our scores would mean the same thing. We will include kindergarten in the Fountas & Pinnell  benchmark assessment in January. We are also field testing P.A.S.T (Phonological Assessment Skills Test). This assessment helps define which skills students are missing to help them be successful conventional readers. We are field testing it with certain teachers because it was given to staff as an optional assessment. I would like us to test all students in K-2 and use it as a baseline for instruction. Phonological skills are really important foundation skills to conventional reading and the targeted instruction in the missing skills will help our students sore. We are using the P.A.S.T one teacher at a time.

Finally, we are implementing a different way of instructing and running core reading time. This year we are implementing Daily 5 and CAFE with fidelity. I have spent the first several months coaching teachers through setting up Daily 5. I've been in classrooms modeling the Daily 5 lessons, holding mini workshops and a book study to help teachers gain the knowledge they need to successfully implement Daily 5.


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