What is the CAFE Approach?
The CAFE Book and The Daily 5 are two books by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (simply known as "The Sisters" to their readers) that provide teachers with guidance on how to engage students in literacy while also fostering independent learning. Both of these books go hand-in-hand and I highly recommend reading them before implementing either strategies in the classroom. As a result of their books and research, The Sisters are an inspiration to many teachers who want to cultivate strong reading habits in our students.
Understanding the CAFE Menu
The CAFE menu is useful for both the teacher and our students to develop better reading. It stands for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary. For classrooms with mostly emergent learners, there is a CAFE menu for emergent readers as well. Each of the four strands is broken down into strategies that students can use to work on, gradually improving on that strand. For example, back-up and re-read is one strategy students can use to master comprehension as seen in the menu below.
CAFE Menu Printable (The Daily Cafe Website)
Teaching the Strategies
In The CAFE Book, each of these strategies is explained in detail, providing teachers with an insight on how to execute them in the classroom. I modelled them during our weekly read aloud and daily shared reading sessions. The idea is not to introduce all the strategies at once, but to take it week-by-week. Some strategies may take even more time to model, practice, and independently master. I initially started with the check for understanding strategy under the comprehension strand. I would essentially follow the I Read, We Read, and You Read lesson plan and integrate check for understanding, by stopping and asking the WHO and WHAT of the story at each of those sections.
Once students master a strategy, you can move onto another one. However, I find mentioning already taught strategies is a good way to remind students about them. For instance, when I moved onto backup and reread, I would sometimes add in a check for understanding (WHO and WHAT) to make sure students remembered to practice the same for their independent reading. This, of course, is up to the teacher and the requirements of the students, working off of the classroom dynamics to teach and reteach strategies.
As a way to make CAFE readily visible, have a menu somewhere in the classroom with the list of strategies that have been and/or are currently being modelled by the teacher. This is a helpful anchor chart that students can look to before, during, and after lessons to consistently apply the strategies to the readings that we do.
Once students master a strategy, you can move onto another one. However, I find mentioning already taught strategies is a good way to remind students about them. For instance, when I moved onto backup and reread, I would sometimes add in a check for understanding (WHO and WHAT) to make sure students remembered to practice the same for their independent reading. This, of course, is up to the teacher and the requirements of the students, working off of the classroom dynamics to teach and reteach strategies.
As a way to make CAFE readily visible, have a menu somewhere in the classroom with the list of strategies that have been and/or are currently being modelled by the teacher. This is a helpful anchor chart that students can look to before, during, and after lessons to consistently apply the strategies to the readings that we do.
Tracking the Student Conferences
The real work begins after the implementation and use of CAFE during the lessons. More specifically, individual or small group conferences are two places where the teacher has to continue evaluating and monitoring the progress of our readers. Unfortunately, there is no real impact if the skills taught during a lesson are not readily transferable and practiced on an independent basis. Therefore, the teacher has to include time in the schedule for independent reading. As much as we hope that reading is a habit that continues at home, most families, especially from communities of colour, have less access and resources to create such a space at home. The Daily 5 reading stations are one way to do this. You need not follow Daily 5 if it does not work for you. There are other ways for reading to take place during class hours, which are mentioned in the independent reading section.
How does one get started with a conference? You have to first and foremost get organized before conferring with students. Particularly, I maintain a three-ring binder just for reading and writing conference notes. In the binder, there is one divider/tab for each students (i.e. if there are 30 students then there should be 30 tabs; one for each student). In each tab, you can find four sheets. The first sheet is the CAFE menu printed on white printing paper. The second sheet is the Reading Conferring Sheet. I print the CAFE sheet on a green printing paper. The third sheet is the writing conference sheet, which I print on a purple printing paper. The last sheet is the writing menu printed on white printing paper. You can find more information about the writing process in the writing menu.
You can also a form to keep track of all the conferences using the Keeping Track form. This is useful in keeping count of the number of conferences per student. Keep in mind that some students may require more regular conferences while others may require conferences on a less frequent basis (e.g. bi-weekly basis).All of this sounds a bit much, but it helps in the long-run because (1) the binder holds information in one place and (2) student progress and notes are easy to monitor and update.
How does one get started with a conference? You have to first and foremost get organized before conferring with students. Particularly, I maintain a three-ring binder just for reading and writing conference notes. In the binder, there is one divider/tab for each students (i.e. if there are 30 students then there should be 30 tabs; one for each student). In each tab, you can find four sheets. The first sheet is the CAFE menu printed on white printing paper. The second sheet is the Reading Conferring Sheet. I print the CAFE sheet on a green printing paper. The third sheet is the writing conference sheet, which I print on a purple printing paper. The last sheet is the writing menu printed on white printing paper. You can find more information about the writing process in the writing menu.
You can also a form to keep track of all the conferences using the Keeping Track form. This is useful in keeping count of the number of conferences per student. Keep in mind that some students may require more regular conferences while others may require conferences on a less frequent basis (e.g. bi-weekly basis).All of this sounds a bit much, but it helps in the long-run because (1) the binder holds information in one place and (2) student progress and notes are easy to monitor and update.
Tips for Conferences
Only after the binder is organized (or whatever the teacher decides to use) can he/she start a conference. The CAFE Book outlines seven steps for a successful conference that can be used whenever a conference "meanders far away from the original goal or leaves a student with a vague sense that things didn't go as well as they should have" (p. 57).
Here are some helpful tips when conferring with students?
Here are some helpful tips when conferring with students?
Use a calendar or tracker to see the appointments that have been made for that day. Some students may require more conferencing while others may require less support. |
Review the notes from previous sessions before observing the student as a reminder of what the student is working on. Here is an example that shows how to take notes on the conference sheet. |
Observe the students read on their own and listen to them. The Daily 5 Book suggests asking, "'I see that you're reading. Would you read so I can listen in?'" (p. 62). It is recommended to keep this short (a minute or so) to avoid overwhelming the student with too much information at once. However, be flexible with students who require more time. |
Look back at the menu and think about what to model or remodel. If the student is ready to move to a new strategy then model something that has not been covered in class. Otherwise, remodel the strategy they are working on and struggling to fully master. |
Provide the student with the opportunity to take what you have modelled and practice it on their own with you at their side. |
Plan the next steps (i.e. the goal the student has to work on and how he/she will be doing so) with the student and mark down a time for the next appointment. |
Encourage the student to continue working on their reading. Our students need to hear it from us.Many teachers often wonder, "How do I make sure my students know how to keep track of their goals?" You can give all the students a CAFE menu of their own. They can highlight what they are working on and tick any strategies they have fully mastered. Alternatively, you can use a Blank Cafe Menu where students can write their goals and add the strategies accordingly. This is what worked for me. |
Summarizing CAFE
Introduce the CAFE menu not in its entirety, but with the four main strands (comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary) and have it on a chart paper somewhere in the classroom. Explain to the students what your purpose is behind using this menu and what each of the strands means in terms of reading. |
Read about the strategy before teaching it to get an idea of how to model it clearly. Then think of ways to integrate it into the reader's workshop when you model good reading in a read aloud, guided reading, or shared reading. |
Add and model the strategy to the CAFE menu as you teach them for students to see. Use the I Do, We Do, and You Do approach to allow them to grasp the strategy. |
Confer with students using Daily 5 or another structure. Ideally, you will have the binder with the conference sheets ready before you actually start doing this. |
In summary, CAFE is a long process in terms of implementation, but it is well worth the effort and time. I have seen how well students adapt to the CAFE menu, and, in the end, how they use the strategies to enhance their thinking and reading.