Intermediate CAFE in the Classroom

This summer I read about and was intrigued by the possibilities of using The CAFE Menu in my classroom. I started the year working out a plan to be able to build my menu board by introducing strategies one at a time throughout the year. I had to think of a way to be able to flip the signs so that they could reflect the language of the week in my immersion setting (link to see my writing menu with the same concept). As the year evolved I decided that my older students needs were mainly comprehension and ended up taking down the other three sections of my menu in order to save wall space. I have been trying to experiment and decide exactly what adaptations I need to make when using the CAFE menu concept in my 6th and 7th grade language arts classes.

Luckily, the instructional coach at my school was able to order the DVD, Intermediate CAFE in the Classroom: Helping Readers Thrive in Grades 3-6. The DVD came at a perfect time after I have already gotten my feet wet with the concept. It served as a good way to focus my reflections and reevaluate how I have been using it and how I can use it more effectively. The 117 minute video shows a wide variety of lessons. For example, it represents the different grade levels, different lesson configurations (whole group, small group, one on one), and different reading levels. I appreciated that through their examples I could see types of students. Through the needs of their students and the decisions they made based on individual needs, I could imagine how the same concepts would work with my own students.

I was also able to reflect on how the one on one conferences fit with the ideas of others that I have been reading lately, especially Patrick Allen's Conferring and Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer. I especially loved seeing how "The Sisters" guided students from different reading levels in selecting goals and setting up plans. The students left with a sense of ownership in the process.

I always love to see ideas that I read about in action. I took pages of notes while viewing the video. I will immediately be implementing some changes, as well as reflecting on the big picture, what I will start to do different in future years with the introduction and set-up. For example, I love that they do not necessarily build the board from scratch with older students. This would work so well in my classroom. There were many points in the video such as this that made me pause and wonder if they had not mentioned that in the book or if I did read it and just was not at the right stage in the process to have that idea register. I am planning on taking a day during winter break to reflect about reading, and the notes I took during the video will be a key component in my considerations.