3. We know we need to be conferring one on one,
so…..
How do we keep track of who we’ve conferred
with
How do we keep track of what we’ve conferred
about and,
What exactly do we confer about?
4. **Our assessments should be informing our
instruction!
Any assessment is only as good as the action that
arises from it.
In this age of accountability, we need records that
document how we are assisting each child with
exactly the skills and instruction he or she needs,
even as our classrooms grow more diverse.
5. What is CAFÉ?
It is 3 things:
A structure for conferring
A system for tracking growth
A guide for instruction
It is used for:
Assessing
Understanding and synthesizing data
Making decisions for instruction based on data
It provides a vocabulary that teachers and
students can share as they work together, set
goals, and document learning and growth.
6. But most of all, it is intense, explicit teaching and
scaffolded support with the students, developing
them as strategic readers no matter what text
they pick up.
7. We are teaching children to look more closely at
where they are now as readers, and where they
might go tomorrow, or over the next week, in
working on skills. So many of the conference
protocols look at what children are reading at the
moment, or ask them to talk about their whole
life as readers. With CAFE, we’re looking at days
and weeks, rather than moments and years, to
help children become more independent in
tracking their progress and taking responsibility
for it.
8. Core elements of CAFÉ:
1. The teacher keeps a notebook with a few key
record-keeping forms, including a calendar,
individual student conference forms, and
strategy group planners.
2. Children meet with the teacher during literacy
workshop conferences to be assessed, receive
focused, explicit instruction, set goals, and
then follow up on progress. The teacher keeps
track of progress on the goal sheet in her
notebook and schedules the next conference
on her calendar, and the child posts his or her
goal on the class CAFE chart.
9. 3. The teacher plans small-group instruction
based on clusters of students with similar needs
in one of the CAFE categories. These groups are
flexible, based on needs rather than reading
levels. Often the teacher meets with groups of
children who are reading different books at
different levels, but working on the same skill
(e.g., fluency or expanding vocabulary).
4. Whole-group instruction is based upon needs
that emerge for many children, often using texts
from whole-class read-alouds or other shared
materials.
11. The Pensieve
Section 1:
Organizing and Planning Our Time
Includes
Calendar- Use to keep track of appointments
with each child. Raises accountability for
teachers and students. Gives you more focus on
what will be accomplished day by day.
Keeping Track Form- The goal is not to meet
with each child an equal number of times but to
ensure that each child’s needs are met. It is also
a check to see that no children that may need
support are missed.
**See samples
12. A Note About Instructional Fairness:
**Fair doesn’t always mean equal!
Fair should mean working in ways that evens out
differences between students. By offering
greater amounts of instructional time with the
poorest readers in your room, teachers can
reduce the amount of attention as those children
develop better reading skills.
(Richard Allington)
13. The Pensieve
Section 2:
Strategy Group Planning
Includes
Strategy Group and Instruction Form- At the
completion of each individual assessment, you
turn to this section and see whether or not any
other students we have already assessed need
support with the same strategy as the child with
whom we are working.
15. The Pensieve
Section 4:
Tabs for each child
Includes in each section
CAFÉ menu
Reading conference form
Writing conference form
Or can use conferring sheet with icons
Forms have spaces to record the child’s current
strengths and goals, any instruction you’ve
provided to help the child meet the goal, and
what you’ve observed with the child related to
the goal.
Personal goal sheet for older students
16. Assessment Box
Once the sheets are filled up, they can be
transferred to assessment box.
This can be done at the end of each reporting
period.
19. Bulletin Board
It has to be in a space low enough for children
to access it, and it has to be large enough to be
added to as the school year progresses.
At the start of the year, there are no strategies
on the board.
Each heading has a brief definition under it.
Underneath each heading is a blank
rectangular sheet of paper awaiting students’
handwritten names on sticky notes.
Below the blank rectangular sheet for goals is
another, larger blank area that students will fill
throughout the year as we teach new skills and
strategies under each of the four headings.
21. First Day- Lesson 1
Begin with a read-aloud of a picture book to
teach the first strategy, Check For Understanding.
See Ready Reference Form.
At the end of the book, we pull out a blank
strategy card from the holder next to the CAFÉ
board. We write the words on the strategy card
in front of the students, and post them under
Comprehension.
We then introduce the CAFÉ menu board to
them.
We will reinforce and refer to this strategy
repeatedly through the first days and weeks of
school.
22. First Day- Lesson 2
Read-aloud of another picture book to teach
the second strategy, which will go under a
different heading on the board.
Use script on pages 35-36 to model again the
Check for Understanding Strategy and to
introduce Cross Checking under Accuracy.
At the end of the book, review the two
strategies. Then we pull out a blank strategy card
from the holder next to the CAFÉ board. We
write the words on the strategy card in front of
the students, and post them under Accuracy.
23. Moving It Into Partner Reading
Watch this video which demonstrates how you
could use partner reading to model “Check For
Understanding”:
CAFE - Check for Understanding - Whole Group
Lesson (VIDEO)
**Start at 1:30
24. First Few Days
Over the first few days, the first four strategies
that will be taught, modeled, and reinforced will
be:
Check for Understanding
Tune In To Interesting Words
Back Up and Re-Read
Cross Checking
Constantly go back and anchor students to the
CAFÉ menu board by pointing to the strategy
card as you use it.
Ready reference forms are in back of book for
each strategy.
26. Parent Information
It is important that parents understand the
language and strategies you will be using so that
they can reinforce them at home.
Begin by having students explain to parents how
they understand what they have been learning at
school.
Then you can send home:
Parent newsletter
Parent Pipelines
