Daily CAFE

This post is a continuation of our explanation of Daily 3 and Daily CAFE.  Please refer to the Daily 3 post first in order for this to make sense!  :o)

The Daily CAFE is the second part of our individualized reading program.  CAFE is an acronym standing for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanded Vocabulary.  The Daily CAFE program was also developed by the sisters.  Where Daily 3 is the way our class is organized, Daily CAFE is the way students set goals and are assessed.

Using students reading assessments from Fountis and Pinnell, the student and teacher together look at their reading and determine which aspect of reading (comprehension, accuracy, fluency, or expanded vocabulary) need to be focused on.  Students use magnets with their names on it and add their name under the goal they have chosen.

While the rest of the class is working on Daily 3, students are called to the back of the room to work independtly with the teacher.  I will not see every student every day, but instead will focus on working with 6-10 students during the hour of Daily 3.  The sisters advocate that not all students need equal individualized instruction from the teacher, but rather some need time to work through the strategies.  Other students may need more time with the teacher and therefore will meet with the teacher more frequently.

During their individual time, the student will bring their book basket with them.  We start the session by looking at what materials the student has in their basket.  We remove anything that needs to be taken out and refresh it with new materials if needed.  We check to see if library books chosen by the students are a good fit. 

Next, the student will read aloud from any book of their choice in their book basket.  I (or Miss Frick) jot down notes about what we are noticing about the students reading.  We then share this information with the students.  We discuss how our observations should guide our goal setting.  We set and record these goals in their independent reading log.  This log gives students a place to record what they are doing during our daily Read to Self times.

During their independent Read to Self time, students take a few moments to fill out information in their reading log.  This information is used during the next Daily CAFE time.




This student is working on Fluency.



This student is working on making prediction when reading to guide comprehension.



This student is working on accuracy.

When I notice that multiple students are all struggling with one skill, we explicitly teach that skill to either the whole class or to a group of students.  When we teach that skill we add to our Cafe menu items of things that we know how to do and should practice doing when we are reading.


When I or the student sees the need arise to work on a different goal, students will move their magnet to a different part of the CAFE menu.  The goals are continually changing as their reading abilities change.  After each Fountis and Pinnell assessment, I will meet with the students to make sure that our current goal is on target for what needs the assessment points out.

I am currently working on putting together information for parents that can be emailed home about how home can support reading using the goals and menu items discussed in class.  Stay tuned for that information!