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How Can Elementary Students Use Daily 5/CAFE to Support Their Writing Goals + Frequently Asked Questions

 


Credit: "Kids' Work Chicago Daycare" by kidsworkchicago is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
    
    This is the burning question that every teacher must have when trying to implement this teaching method into the classroom. 🔥

How Can Elementary Students Use Daily 5/CAFE to Support Their Own Writing Goals?

    By enforcing the use of Daily 5/CAFE in the classroom, the students will be given the opportunity to become independent learners. This way of learning encourages students to engage more with what they are either reading or writing and creates a space of creativity for students. 

    By applying the Daily 5 tasks which include: 
  1. Read to self
  2. Work on writing
  3. Partner reading
  4. Word work
  5. Listening to reading
Students are given the chance to focus on their strengths and improve their weaknesses. This method shows the students what they need to improve more on as well as what they already excel in.

Credit: Dohn Community High School FAQ - Dohn Community High School (dohnschool.org)


    According to a case study conducted by Sandra Lee Duty at Portland State University when having her fourth-grade students write reflections in their journals about their experiences with Daily 5/CAFE the students had their opinions on this particular teaching strategy. She asked her students a few questions that I figured I would share because these questions correlate to the primary question as to how can elementary students use Daily5/CAFE to support their writing goals.

Question 1: How do students perceive their experience in Daily 5/CAFE reading experience?

    From the reflection journal entries that Duty received, she noticed that a bunch of students liked to have their own choices in what they decided to read. Daily 5/CAFE further helped enhance the student's ability to read and write as well as create accommodating goals. Students liked to create goals of their own with guidance from the teacher. The students in the classroom also expressed that with the help from other students in the classroom, the Daily 5 practices, reading and writing practices helped them better with their literacy.

Question 2: Does Daily 5 relate to CAFE?

    Daily 5 directly correlates to the CAFE menu. What is taught in Daily 5 comes from CAFE which as mentioned in the previous blog post, CAFE stands for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary. The teaching method of the CAFE menu has been developed to help students who struggle more with reading and writing as well as to help those have a better understanding and learn the correct strategies in order to be a adequate reader.

Question 3: How does Daily 5 work?

    According to Boushey and Moser (2006), Daily 5 consists of five activities that first begin with a fifteen-minute lesson with the entire group followed by sixty minutes of time for the students to work independently. When they work with themselves, they are given the opportunity to work with one of the five tasks from Daily 5 (tasks included above) and it tests the students' knowledge. At the same time the students work independently, the teacher should be having conferences one-on-one with the student and attending to their needs or questions. As I mentioned in the annotated bibliography, the traditional way of teaching literacy consists of worksheets and other reading and writing activities that do not require much interaction between the students and the teacher as well as does not integrate as much of other academic subjects. However, Daily 5 requires students to step out of their bubble and interact with their peers as well as provides time for the student to work independently by themselves. The Daily 5 integrates with other subjects and does not just focus around literacy. Specifically, this approach strengthens student learning and encourages students to participate in meaningful practice and apply what they learned about their literacy skills.

Question 4: How do we support elementary students thrive as writers?

    There are so many ways that we as teachers can help our students succeed when writing and reading. The Daily 5/CAFE is a perfect example of how was can further enhance the students knowledge of what literacy is and how it can be implemented. By having students work both independently and as a whole group, it gives them two different perspectives as well as helps them gain more knowledge from gathering up as a whole group, hearing other students thoughts about what is being taught after working individually. 



Question 5: Does having the students make their own choice better enhance their literacy knowledge?

    Personally, from the research conducted in order to make this blog, I believe that student choice is one of the main things that encourages students to reach further in their academics and for them to gain a better sense of knowledge. Especially when focusing on Daily 5/CAFE. When using this method in particular, giving the students to the choice as to what they want to read will make them more willing to have motivation to read and understand the book and the point that the author wants the reader to understand. By not giving the students their own choice in what to read or write, it makes it harder for the student to enjoy what they are writing or reading as well as harder to comprehend a book or think of something to write. As teachers we should always remember that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

Resourceful Websites:

This website down below is a useful link that provides the framework that Daily 5 requires including giving the students an opportunity to make their own choices throughout the lesson.


This link provides the classroom design of how Daily 5 should be used in the classroom to set students up for success. 

Resourceful Documents:


CAFE MENU

Helpful Ideas:


    As previously mentioned, Daily 5 can integrate different subjects such as math in the picture shown above. A way to get your students thinking as they enter the classroom is have "daily" Daily 5 check-in's. This would consist of the students having the opportunity to choose from one of the daily 5 tasks and then make use of what was previously taught. This is a good way to test student knowledge and see if they remembered past lessons.


Credit: Elise Gleeson on Pinterest 
    

    Another idea that can be executed in the classroom is having the students show you (as the teacher) what the five different Daily 5 tasks look like. By having students draw out what they think these tasks look like, it gives them a better understanding because they are learning from themselves. Students will also have the opportunity to see their classmates' drawings and further have a better understanding of these important tasks.


*Case Study Reference:

Duty, Sandra Lee, "The Impact of Daily 5 and CAFE Literacy Framework on Reading Comprehension in Struggling Fourth Grade Readers: A Case Study" (2016). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2710. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2706

Other References:

 Behne, A., Boushey, G. (2019). The CAFE book. Engaging all students in daily literacy assessment and instruction (The Second Edition), 2-231. United States: Stenhouse Publishers.

    Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2012). Big ideas behind daily 5 and CAFE. The Reading Teacher, 66(3), 172-178. Retrieved from DOI: 10.1002/TRTR.01116

   Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2006). The daily 5. Fostering literacy independence in the elementary grades, 3-123. United States: Stenhouse Publishers




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