How do the upper grades (4th and 5th) use a read aloud like noted on p.32? Those look like too juvenile of titles for those ages. Maybe I am wrong....
I like how they emphasize that if the TEACHER does not constantly "think aloud" and physically point to the bulletin board or CAFE strategies like check for understanding or crosschecking then the students will never really buy into it.
7 Steps from Assessing to knowing the Instruction the student needs
- Assess individual student
- DRA, CBM, running record, what else?
- Discuss findings with student
- How comfortable are you with this process? Do kids use the phrasing that you are modeling?
- Set goal and identify strategies with student
- This is the hard part. You want to hit a home run the first time when you individualize it and pick a strategy for the student to practice independently. How can we connect the strategy we are picking for students in PK-2 to match our PLA common area of retelling????
- Student declares goal on menu and in notebook
- I like that the students are an active part as they write, review, and record/post it.
- Teacher fills out Individual Reading Conference form
- This would be an excellent artifact to share with parents.
- Teacher fills out Strategy Groups form
- This part confuses me a little. If you are not meeting with each student equal times, how and when do you rearrange the groups for guided reading based on CAFE input from individual conferences? Or do you always have one of each of the 4 groups going and then rotate the kids as needed so the membership is always different from week to week?
- Instruction
- Imagine how great this system will work in a year or two when the kids have had it in K, then 1st, then 2nd, etc.....
Assessments available: DRA, BRI, CBM, Observation Survey, DIEBELS, Running Records/Annecdotal, GRADE.
ReplyDeleteAs a district we are great at collecting data...we just need to use it to guide our curriculum and instruction.
Retelling is a comprehension skill. Many of the strategies in this book can help with that: check for understanding, back up and reread, making a mental picture, etc. "Retell" itself is listed on page 157 in the appendix.
I agree with the point made about teachers using the strategies themselves to "sell it" to their students.
I like the Literacy cafe Menu bulletin board. Closet doors could work. The problem is getting things to stick. Interactive is possible. Only thing with interactive board not displayed all the time for easy reference. I liked the think aloud strategies that the teachers used. I think that their are great picture books out their that 4 and 5 graders would enjoy and you can quickly and easily teach the strategies to the students. Again the goal setting is a great idea, however you would need to teach and guide the students through this process. At one time we use BRI and DRA assessments with all students in grades 2-5. The district no longer does this for everyone. Agree reading conference form would be a great artifact for conferencing. I like the CAFE approach to reading. However, I feel that the district is not fully commited to this process. Seems like they want us to continue with old practices, but yet try new. The old and new don't always compliment each other. If we are going to use the CAFE then quarter reporting (report cards) needs to reflect this process.
ReplyDeleteI liked Steps 2 and 3: Discuss Findings with Student and Set Goals and Identify Strategies with the student. I find that anytime I can show a student how they are doing on the graphs that I keep for their IEP's, they take more ownership for the areas that need improvement and show more confidence in the areas where they are making gains.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole group lessons on comprehension, etc. are wonderful. It would be great if as a school we used the same vocabulary and the same hand/body gesture, etc. to work on reading from K-5. Then our reading program might have a little conisistency, which I feel it lacks from grade to grade.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Renee that the whole group lessons, modeling comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanded vocabulary strategies would be benefitial to use in kindergarten. The students would learn by the modeling and vocabulary used to support their own reading strategies in the future.
ReplyDeleteI liked step 3: where the students set the goal. During the home visit with the parents, I have them set goals for the children for the year. It helps to see what the parents think and want their children to learn.
ReplyDeleteLooking at chapter 4 in the CAFE book, I like the concept of conferring with children. This allows for time to get good observations and be able to really listen to the child. It's important to help students work towards individual goals, and this can be done as we confer (and coach).
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