Hello there, I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel (or use the thought processes) to share in minute detail how to approach and implement the Daily 5 and CAFE frameworks in your classroom since the 2 Sisters, Joan and Gail (don’t you feel like you know them) on their site, in their books and other bloggers have broken it down beautifully and made it user friendly. So, I will focus on how the different components have worked for me and my kiddos over the years. First let’s discuss “I” Charts!!!
I devote the major part of one wall in my classroom to display the “I” Charts and CAFE menu. I’ve used various size “I” Charts and icons. I’ve typically used larger charts for my Kindergarten year and then smaller ones for the following year in First Grade, yep I’m a Looper. 🙂 I believe the first icons I really liked were from Mrs. Meacham’s site nine years ago. I just tried to find them to link them, but no luck, guess they’re too old. 🙂
Since color ink has always been in short supply, I was thrilled with the simple black and white design. I ran them off on every color of cardstock I couldfind, lol. I used them everywhere and printed them on a variety of label sizes for “I” Charts, folders, pocket chart items, and on storage bins. (If they’re not from Mrs. Meacham’s site, please advise, I like to give credit where credit is due.)
In the beginning of the year, I put up blank charts, with only the icons, for each of the “dailys” to allocate the space on the wall and to make the kiddos wonder what will go in that spot. Then, I add each “I” chart as we completed them.
My “I” charts have evolved in the following way:
- in the section marked #1 I took her idea to incorporate picture clues to illicit more detailed responses from the kiddos about what we all should look like, sound like, and how we should feel during and afterwards.
- in the section marked #2 I glued this page to the section 1 page and filled it in with the kiddos in a whole group setting as the Sisters described in Book 1.
- in the section marked #3 This is the result of the ‘hallejuah’ moment I experienced while reading the 2nd edition of The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades. Depending on the class, creating the “I” charts could be wonderful or downright scary and make you wonder why you even attempted this task. Talk about a sign of relief that I wasn’t the only one thinking there must be a better way. I still asked the same questions to illicit ideas, but the sentence stems were genius. Also, “sharing the pen” to complete the chart always gets a group interested. It also give you a chance to highlight a variety of spelling patterns and review letter-sound correspondence, depending on what your group needs. If you would like, you can find my charts in my store on TpT.
As I mentioned earlier, I loop with my kiddos (Kindergarten to First Grade) and the majority have had Daily 5 experience, therefore I change to the following format for First Grade.
Click for TpT product. Scroll for examples of shared-writing completed and in-progress statements for “I” Charts:
For the Daily 5 : “I” Charts Shared Writing product, click!
In addition to the 2 Sisters’ site, which is loaded with videos and articles for members, here are a few blogs you might find helpful:
* to refresh yourself or as a great introduction at Firstie Favorites
* a book study post at Thank God it’s First Grade
* a book study at Lory’s 2nd Grade Skills
* perspective on Read to Self seating at First Grade Critter Cafe
Until next time,
