Literacy Program: The Daily 3 and CAFE

During our daily literacy blocks, the classroom structure I use is called “Daily 3” and “CAFÉ”. Perhaps you have heard your child talking about this at home. I will explain to you what this program entails and what you should expect to see at home.

The Daily 3 is a literacy structure that teaches independence and gives children the skills needed to create a lifetime love of reading and writing. It consists of 3 tasks that are introduced individually. When introduced to each task, the children discuss what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to engage in the task independently. Next we work on building their stamina until they are successful at being independent while doing that task. The 3 tasks include:

• Read to self
• Read to someone
• Work on writing/ word work

When all three tasks have been introduced and the children are fully engaged in reading and writing activities (autonomous learners), I am able to work with small groups and confer with children one on one. This structure is effective and it allows me to work more often with your child. Ask your child about the Daily 3 and see what he/she has to say.

CAFÉ

Research shows that good readers use a variety of strategies when successfully reading and comprehending a selection of text. I feel it is not only important to teach these strategies, but to post them as a reference for readers in the classroom.

Our classroom has a Literacy CAFÉ Menu posted that contains strategies good readers use when reading. In class, we compared our Literacy CAFÉ Menu to a menu at a restaurant. We discussed how the food we order at a restaurant depends on the time of day, how hungry we are, and what we like to eat. These compares to our classroom CAFÉ menu because as readers we use the strategies we need at the time to help us successfully read and comprehend text.

CAFÉ is an acronym that stands for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding vocabulary. These become our goals and the strategies we use to be successful with our goals are posted below them. Each child has goals and strategies specific to his/her individual needs and therefore will get the direct instruction needed to move forward and become a successful reader.

As your child declares his/her goal and works on various strategies, I will be sending home a Parent Pipeline. The Parent Pipeline is a letter informing you of the strategy your child is working on and it provides suggestions for assisting your child at home. Please look for these letters throughout the year and support your child in his/her quest to become a better reader.