benefits

Why are you using Daily 5/CAFE? What benefits do you see with your students? What benefits are there to you?

I was looking for a way to increase my first graders' opportunities for independent classroom reading in response to the district's plan for balanced literacy. While searching the internet for independent reading management plans that featured student choice, student engagement and research-based methods, I came across __The Daily 5 Book.__ What a succinct, but powerful little book! I read it that summer and began using parts of Daily 5 the following fall, primarily focusing on Read to Self and Read to Someone. I-PICK proved to be a great way to teach the principles my students needed to learn about self-selection of books. By this time of the year(April-May) in first grade I am amazed at how students of varying reading abilities have become so adept at self-selecting "just right" books and have taken ownership of their independent reading time.

Have you ever had a principal or outside tutor call you in the summer and ask for specific information to help guide a student's summer school or private tutoring experience? I just had this happen in regards to a student's writing, and because I had my pensieve still assembled, I could turn to that child's page and be really specific about the writing goal he had been working toward in the spring, the type of writing or genre he had finished the year with, and how the child had been practicing to reach his goal. It was quick and easy, plus it was really helpful information for the person asking. Of course the conferring notebook will also come in handy when next year's teacher has similar questions, or asks "what worked?"