Daily 3 and CAFE in full swing!

Only 17 more days and I will have a large portion of my time back and devoted to teaching!  As excited as I am to be getting married, this planning and putting together is taking up A LOT of my time and this poor blog has fallen by the wayside.  I feel like all my posts have been starting with the same apology lately but its true!  I promise, once I'm a Mrs. I will be posting more frequently :o)

Now on to the real topic, Daily 3 and CAFE!  I started implementing the Daily 3 in my classroom at the beginning of this year and the kids are very independent with it now and I LOVE IT!  They know what is expected of them, their options, and how guided reading works during the sessions and how they need to be independent learners and thinkers.  I have noticed lately (and it's an all the time thing, not just during the Daily 3) that my students are becoming more chatty...  I know, you're thinking, "That can't be!?"  Well it is, so we are going to have to have another meeting where we review our I-chart and have some people give me examples of the correct behavior and incorrect behavior.  I know this seems silly for the intermediate grades, but believe me, it's effective!

Here is how it runs in my class:

• Read to Self
• Every student is working on their personal stamina goal
• Word Work
• Spelling
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Phonics
• Boggle
• Classroom Journals
• Writing Connection
• Literature Response Journals (one due every two weeks - they have a rubric taped inside their journals)
• Response Prompts
• Blogs (haven't moved into this yet but we will)

I designate anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour for Daily 3/Guided Reading Groups.  I'll be the first to admit, it's not perfect and I can't always get the scheduling to be what I want with everything we have to do but when we do it, they've got it :o).  I usually work with my guided reading groups for 20 minutes each and give the Daily 3 about 25-30 minutes during each session so they can have meaningful and in depth learning.  I can't expect them to use the strategies I teach them if I don't give them the chance!  When I am not doing a GRG I am walking around and conferring with students independently.

I am currently doing a 3 day workshop for Daily 5 through our county and even though it is geared more towards primary she spoke about implementing the Daily 5 in intermediate classrooms and how it would look differently and be introduced differently.  For example, I wouldn't teach the 3 ways to read a book, I would teach them text features, strategies, etc.  One thing she did say (and helped me feel like I was on the right track) was that intermediate grades would not get to all 5 in a day and our sessions should be about 30 minutes each.  It is going to look a lot different than primary, especially when incorporating read alouds and literature circles.  It's always nice when someone who has been trained and knows what they are talking about tells you, "You are doing exactly what you should be doing!"  Makes a girl feel all tingly inside ;o)

Tomorrow I will post all about CAFE in my classroom and attach the documents my students use to help them remember it all :o)  If you have any links to Daily 5 in the intermediate grades please post below!  I could still use all the help I can get, lol.

Sabra