Learning Log 14

Chapter 7 – The Café Book

Reflect on the following statement found on page 107, “Why not start grouping kids together by strategy need rather than reading level?”  What would this look like?

The teacher would assess each student’s reading to determine what strategies will enable the child to be a more successful reader (Boushey & Moser, 2009).  The groups will be comprised of students with varying reading levels, but they are grouped together based on the strategy need that they have.  The groups will change as the students’ needs change. 

What is the true meaning of “flexible” groups?  What does it look like?  How does it compare to your current practice?

“Flexible” groups means that groups will be based on student needs instead of ability levels (Boushey & Moser, 2009).  The groups may contain varying abilities in reading; however, the strategy needs that each student needs will decide the composition of the groups.  In a lot of classrooms, students are grouped according to their ability levels, which are not necessarily meeting their instructional needs.

Think of a time you have been “grouped” and it was not a good fit for you.  How did you feel?  Were you motivated to do your best or were you discouraged?

In one of my college courses, the class was required to participate in learning teams.  The first team was great as everyone seemed to have similar goals and understandings of the requirements of the assignment.  The second team that I was on was less than optimal as two of us did most of the work, and the other team members did not understand the objective of the assignment and were not at the same ability level.  I feel like I was cheated out of a beneficial learning experience because of this.  I was discouraged; however, I did not want to receive a low grade for the assignment.

View figure 7.2 (p. 112; you will notice it is very similar to the form you viewed on p. 151).  Using this form, read a few sample strategy groups (beginning on p. 116) and highlight the elements of coaching towards a target that you find.  Then, use a strategy group form to practice filling out what you would include when coaching a small group.

The sample strategy group that I highlighted was the last one, Expand Vocabulary:  Use Word Parts to Determine the Meaning of Words (Fifth Grade).  The teacher has checked her calendar to determine which group she is working with at that time.  Before meeting with the group, she looks at each of their assessments to select a strategy to instruct them on that will aid them toward achieving their goals.  The teacher has the students record the strategy in their notebooks while she observes them do this.  Next, she begins the lesson by having students examine a newspaper with her in which they find words for their roots and affixes to develop meaning.  She has the students practice the strategy while she observes as this will let her know if the students understand the strategy or require reteaching.  She plans to meet with the group the next day to check their understanding of the strategy, and she ends the group lesson by providing them with encouragement and positive feedback.

When coaching a small group, I would check my calendar, and then I would examine my students’ assessments to determine which strategy to teach them that will meet their needs.  I would then quietly observe them as they are reading before the group meets.  Next, I would bring the group together and begin the lesson, followed by providing my students with the opportunity to practice under my guidance.  At the end of the lesson, I would plan for our next meeting time and supply them with encouragement. 

How has reading CAFÉ affected the way you think about literacy instruction?

Reading CAFÉ has provided me with a clearer picture on how I can differentiate reading instruction in my classroom.  I can screen my students at the beginning of the school year and design an instructional program that will help to meet their needs.  This is important for all of my students, but it will be crucial for my special needs students.  I also like the assessment piece as it can aid me in providing consistency in assessing and tracking the data for my students.

 

Reference

Boushey, G. & Moser, J. (2009). The café book. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Learning Log 13

Chapter 6 – The Café Book

Reflect on your current whole-group instruction time.  How much of your day will be spent teaching whole group?  How long do you think one lesson is from start to finish?  How much of the lesson will you be teaching and how much of the lesson are students doing?

Approximately a quarter to half of my day will be spent teaching whole group.  One of my lessons is about fifty minutes from start to finish.  I will be teaching the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the lesson and the students will be doing the rest of the lesson with my guidance.

Whole group CAFÉ lessons are driven by assessments, one-on-one conferring, and small-group observations (p. 89).  The goal is to plan whole-group lessons around skills and strategies that a majority of our students need assistance with.  What strategies do you find will be most beneficial for whole-group instruction in your classroom?

The strategies that find will be the most beneficial for whole-group instruction in my classroom are:  check for understanding, back up and reread, cross checking, reread text, tune into interesting words, and make a picture or image.  The check for understanding, the make a picture or image, and the back up and reread strategies will assist my students in developing better comprehension in the texts that they read now and through the years to come.  Cross checking will help them to working on gaining increased accuracy in their reading.  Students will benefit from reread text as it will aid them in achieving more fluency.  Vocabulary development can be increased by the tune into interesting words strategy as students look for words that they do not know, and they use context clues to find meaning for the word, which they will record in a journal and provide a picture to help them to remember the meaning of the word.   

Review the whole-class lesson elements (p. 95-97).  How can you integrate these elements into your future teaching practice?  What adaptations need to be made?

The elements for whole-group instruction that the authors provide are:  identify what will be taught, teach the strategy, have students practice with partners, select a student to record and illustrate the strategy to be placed on the CAFÉ menu, review the strategy, encourage practice during independent reading, post the strategy after independent practice, and connect new strategies with the menu continually (Boushey & Moser, 2009).  I think these elements will be central to my literacy instruction, and I want to investigate the Daily Five that the authors have created as both this method and CAFÉ will help me to provide the best literacy instruction to my students that I possibly can.  Adaptations that I would need to make will depend upon where I am teaching and the curriculum design that is in place there. 

How has reading CAFÉ affected the way you think about literacy instruction?

After reading CAFÉ, I now realize how literacy instruction needs to be comprised of authentic learning activities, tailoring instruction to individual needs is crucial, and providing whole-group and small-group instruction that will be beneficial to all.  I have often wondered before reading CAFÉ how I would be able to provide literacy instruction and assessing literacy for my students as there is only so much time in the school day.  CAFÉ provides a way for teachers to assess students as often as needed for each, and it offers me with a way to keep accurate records that will help me in keeping up those records.

Reference

Boushey, G. & Moser, J. (2009). The café book. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

 

 

Learning Log 12

Chapter 5 – The Café Book

This chapter provides nine examples of conferences from different goals at different levels.  Using p. 151 as a guide read each scenario and see if you are able to find the various elements in each conference as Gail and Joan confer with students and “coach towards a target.”  Discuss each element to help you in understanding the whole picture.

The teacher, Gail, checks the calendar for appointments with students, and then they select one of the students, Sevilya in this case, who are scheduled for that day.  Gail peruses her notes from the previous conference with Sevilya to familiarize herself with the Sevilya’s strengths and the strategy focus from last time.  Gail talks with Sevilya about her strengths and the goal in her case is comprehension.  Sevilya is asked to read while Gail listens in so as to observe whether Sevilya is using the strategy that they learned during the last conference, which will be recorded on Sevilya’s conference sheet.  Gail teaches and reinforces the Check for Understanding strategy to Sevilya; she explains the strategy first, then she models it while thinking aloud and offering advice.  She then practices the strategy with Sevilya, who will practice it alone with Gail listening in.  Gail and Sevilya discuss the next step, and Gail writes that on her planning sheet.  The conference ends with Gail asking Sevilya to repeat her strengths, goal, and strategy to work on, and she offers Sevilya words of encouragement.

A few of the conference examples in this chapter provide a picture of the conferring form after the conference is over (figures 5.1-5.4).  Select and example that does not have a form pictured, and then practice on a form as though you were the teacher in the example.  Write down what you would say in dialogue form.

“Hello, Inna.  Do you remember what your strengths are as a reader?”

“I notice that you can read every word and that you can read with expression without pausing to figure a word out.”

“Do you remember what your reading goal is?”

“Your reading goal is comprehension.  It means that you understand what you read.  The strategy that I will be teaching you is called Check for Understanding.  Let me show you how this strategy works.”

“I am going to read a few sentences, and then I am going to talk about what I just read.”

“Now, I am going to have you read the next few sentences, and I want you to stop and ask yourself, ‘Who and what?  Who is it about?  What happened?’”

“Watch me while I model Checking for Understanding after I read the next few sentences.  Who is the author talking about?  What happened?  Now, you try it, Inna.”

“Great, Inna.  I want you to remind me of your goal.”

“Okay, I would like for you to practice the Check for Understanding strategy in your reading today.  I will check back with you tomorrow, and you can show me the passages that you read and demonstrate the strategy for me then.”

Reference

Boushey, G. & Moser, J. (2009). The café book. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Learning Log 11

Chapter 4 – The Café Book

Prior to reading Chapter Four, think about your idea of conferencing with children in the near future.  Write down:  What do you envision the room to look like, feel like, and sound like?  What concerns or questions do you have?  Then, read Chapter Four and revisit your initial thoughts.  Has your thinking changed?  What questions do you still have?

I envision my classroom to look like the students are working toward their reading and writing goals.  My classroom feels like a fun, productive working environment.  It sounds like the students are reading to each other and reading to themselves; they are working towards their reading goals.  I am concerned with making sure that everyone is working diligently in the classroom as I am conferencing with individual students:  What is the best way to ensure this?  How do I keep the rest of the class focused?

I do not believe that my thinking has changed much; however, I am still concerned with keeping my other students on task when I am conferring with individuals.

Chapter Four presents the seven elements of successful conferences (p. 57-67).  Read and reflect on this section, use p. 151 as a guide.  Grab your notebook and practice conferring with another person/child.  Reflect on the conferences you held.  How long did each conference take?  Did you complete all seven steps?  What did you find most difficult?  How do you see this working in your daily routine?

Step 1:  Check the Calendar for Appointments

The teacher checks the Conferring Notebook for appointments with students.  The teacher is also able to check the Keeping Track form to see that he/she is meeting with students consistently based on their needs.  Some children will have conferences more often than others based on their present level (Boushey & Moser, 2009).

Step 2:  Prepare for the Conference (30 seconds)

The teacher needs to prepare for the conference when they decide upon which child they will meet with.  He/she does this by quickly scanning notes for the following information:  Their teaching point and the follow-up for students between conferences.  By preparing, the teacher will be able to focus on the student.

Step 3:  Observe Child and Listen to Reading (1 minute)

The teacher asks the student to read so that they may listen to see if the student is employing the strategies that were previously taught and what they are doing well with the strategies.  The student describes his/herself as a reader.

Step 4:  Reinforce and Teach (1 minute)

The teacher shares his/her observations with the student, then they teach or reinforce the strategy the appropriate strategy through explicit explanation, modeling, thinking aloud, and offering advice (Boushey & Moser, 2009).

Step 5:  Practice the Strategy (1 minute)

The student is asked to practice the strategy with the teacher, so the teacher will be able to correct misconceptions that the student may have made about the strategy.

Step 6:  Plan (30 seconds)

The teacher and student make decisions together on the next step for the student to take, which will be recorded on the coaching sheet.

Step 7:  Encourage (15 seconds)

The student needs to express what the goal is, and the teacher provides the student with encouragement to keep them positive about practicing the strategy.

Each conference that I conducted lasted about three and a half to four minutes.  I completed most of the steps as it was difficult in having very little information to start with.  I found deciding on a strategy to practice or reinforce to be the most difficult because of the lack of information that I had to go on.  I see this as a way to keep track of my anecdotal notes for each students and as a guide in planning where students need to go.

Reference

Boushey, G. & Moser, J. (2009). The café book. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Learning Log 10

Chapter 3 – The Café Book

Establishing the Literacy Café in the classroom is the topic that Boushey and Moser discuss in this chapter.  Often, before the school year starts, teachers begin their preparations for the Café by creating the bulletin board (Literacy Café Menu) and selecting which strategies to introduce the students to first.  The Menu contains a column with the headings for the types of Café strategies:  Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expand Vocabulary.  Under these headings, there are brief definitions:  Comprehension-“I understand what I read;” Accuracy-“I can read the words;” Fluency-“I can read accurately, with expression, and understand what I read;” and Expand Vocabulary-“I know, find, and use interesting words (Boushey & Moser, 2009).”  The menu remains empty of strategies until the first day of school when a strategy will be placed on it after it has been introduced to the students, usually during the first read-aloud, and then gradually add more strategies during whole-class lessons for the rest of the first week of school.  The Café system then moves into individual conferences where students will be assessed in order to tailor their reading instruction using seven steps:  “assess the individual student, discuss findings with students, set goal and identify strategies with student, student declares goal on menu and in notebook, teacher fills out individual Reading Conference form, teacher fills out Strategy Groups, and instruction (Boushey & Moser, 2009).” 

I like how the authors lay out a step-by-step plan for setting up and instructing students on how to use the Literacy Café Menu.  As a future educator, it will be important for me to be able to instruct my students in making use of the tools that are available to them to enable them to develop higher functioning cognitive skills in order for them to become successful readers and learners.      

Reference

Boushey, G. & Moser, J. (2009). The café book. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Learning Log 9

Chapter 2 -- The Cafe Book

Boushey and Moser, the authors of the Café Book, inform the reader of their trials and tribulations of maintaining student records, especially anecdotal notes.  They experimented with different organization strategies over many years before settling for their current method of keeping student records:  the Conferring Notebook.  They also make reference to this notebook as their “pensieve,” and as such, the notebook should be a reflection of the personality of the teacher that is using it, which will make it easy to identify what it is and who belongs to.  This notebook contains assessment data, daily observations, and their teaching and learning (Boushey & Moser, 2009).  The notebook has two sections:  teacher notes and student individualized progress.  The teacher notes section contains a calendar for making appointments with each student, a form for keeping track of meetings with each student, and a strategy groups form for creating student instructional groups that are flexible and have similar goals.  Each student has their own subsection in Section 2 containing a CAFÉ Menu, a Reading Conference form, and a Writing Conference form for each of the students.  The teachers can keep track of their students’ strengths, weaknesses, and goals at the top of the Reading and Writing Conference forms as well. 

The organization of the Conferring Notebook appears to be straightforward, and I can see where it will be a crucial piece to literacy instruction in the classroom and in showing proof of learning when asked by administration and parents as the information is in one place.  Organization is an important part of being a professional and in classroom management because if we want our students to develop organizational skills, then we must model it for them.

Reference

Boushey, G. & Moser, J. (2009). The café book. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Learning Log 8

Café Book – Chapter 1

1.  How would you differentiate reading instruction for your students to ensure each child is receiving instruction at their level?

Before I can differentiate reading instruction for my students, I will need to assess their reading as this will inform me of their strengths and areas where they need more assistance.  The next step is to set up the Daily Five in a literacy workshop that will provide students with five different tasks that they can work on independently allowing me to work with small groups.  The five tasks of the Daily Five are:  reading to self, reading to someone else, writing, word work, and listening to reading.  Using this program will permit me to conduct periodic assessments on my students to check their progress in their literacy skills development (Boushey & Moser, 2009).

 

2.  How will you use reading assessments to inform instruction and set student goals?

I will use the data that I glean from reading assessments to determine my students’ strengths and weaknesses, which will help me in designing the instructional program and setting goals for my students (Boushey & Moser, 2009).  I will be able to use those areas where my students need more assistance to set up whole group and small-group instruction.  I will also need to conduct individual conferences with my students periodically to check their progress and to check if their goals are being met or not.

 

3.  The chapter highlights the core elements of the CAFÉ system:  the conferring notebook, individual conferences, small-group instruction, and purposeful whole group instruction.  How do you see these core elements making up a reading block in your future classroom?

I see myself using the conferring notebook in my classroom to keep my records organized and up-to-date for assessing my students reading skills.  The individual conferences will allow for me to have time to assess each of my students, provide individual instruction, to establish goals for the student, and to monitor progress.  I will use the small-group instruction element as an instruction time for those students who are experiencing similar difficulties.  I will provide whole group instruction during this block of the school day for the needs that present for the majority of the class (Boushey & Moser, 2009).

 

4.  Good-fit books are essential to productive independent reading.  What can you do to get good-fit books in the hands of your students?  How do you define a “good-fit” book?

Good-fit books are books that a student can read, which means that the books are at the students reading level and able to be read independently (Boushey & Moser, 2009).  I can make selections of books that will be good-fit books based on the data that I gather from assessing my students.

 

5.  The end of chapter one discusses the concept of instructional fairness.  What does instructional fairness mean to you?

Instructional fairness means that reading instruction is tailored to each students needs (Boushey & Moser, 2009).  Students who are at a higher reading level do more student-directed work, and struggling students receive more individualized and small-group instruction in order to meet their needs.

 

Reference
Boushey, G. & Moser, J. (2009). The café book. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.