Daily Five and CAFE Days 1-4

The first week of school has come and gone! I have to say it was very successful. Only problem is I couldn't find time to fit in the "fluff" stuff because I was too busy teaching reading and writing! Not too bad of a problem, is it? 

After countless nights of staying awake over the summer, thinking about Daily 5 and CAFE, we made it through the first week! At times I ask myself, why was I so anxious to start this? The only answer I can come up with is I REALLY wanted it to work! I truly believe in these two resources/structures and the benefits of them on both my teaching and my student learning. 

SO..... how did the week go? Well by Friday we made it to 10 minutes of Stamina in writing and 5 minutes in reading. Not bad for third graders (I hope :-) ) Everyday we go through the 10 steps of muscle memory and my kids are really getting it! They are even using that big word "stamina". How cool is that? Seriously, I've had not one but a few kids asking me, "how much stamina do we have today?" LOVE IT!!!!! The children are enjoying the modeling (of course they love to do the incorrect modeling , but hey whatever works!). I've been working on trying to keep my mini-lessons short and somewhat succeeding at this. I say "somewhat" because it is a work in progress. I know I repeat myself over and over. Next weeks goal.... stop repeating things, they get it! They heard you the first time, and there is always the next round to review. 

When I first started reading and introducing D5 I thought there is no way I will get 5 rounds in! Well, I think there may be because in week one, I've been doing three. It works for my kids. Short but sweet mini-lessons (I know, I know, I'm working on it) and then we are off to build our stamina. Come on back... review, next strategy, and we are off again. LOVE IT!!!!!! After there stamina is built I will keep it at three. One CAFE strategy mini-lesson, writing mini-lesson, word work mini-lesson.

So far, read to self has been introduced and Word on writing. Work on writing is at a different time because I would like to keep Writer's Workshop separate. CAFE strategies introduced are: check for understanding, back up and re-read, cross check (we even did the hand motions, I didn't think I could do them with third, but they liked it), and tune into interesting words. My kids are using the word "strategy" when they refer to themselves as readers. 

Week one has come and gone and I'm very impressed! Next week we will continue to build our stamina during RTS and Work on Writing. I will work on keeping my mini-lessons short and sweet. Another goal is starting to work with small groups. During RTS I want to pull over a small group of Barometer children, so I can provide them with strategies to use when they are losing focus. I would also like to try some of the techniques the sisters use, such as a timer, small carpet, and maybe even play dough. 

Words of advice- 

Model, model, model! 

Try stretching before sending the kids off to build their stamina. I have been reading about Brain Gym exercises and they are working. My kids like the stretching and I think they need them. 

Special thanks to the 2 sisters for this fantastic idea of Daily Five and CAFE and two my Proteacher Friends who have been on this journey from the beginning. We totally understand each other :

Check back often....