12/20/2011

Pond Cove teachers excited over 'Daily 5' and 'CAFE' approach to literacy instruction and assessment

Teachers at Pond Cove School are excited about the Daily 5.

Four of them - first-grade teachers Karen Abbott, Julie Nickerson and Amy Kieran; and fourth-grade teacher Heather Geikie, shared their enthusiasm for the literacy education framework at the School Board's meeting Dec. 13, 2011.

The Daily 5, coupled with the "CAFE" system of literacy assessment, fosters independence among young learners while freeing teachers to work with individuals or small groups on specific literacy goals. These goals include comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary - the first letters of each combining to spell CAFE.

"We're crazy proud of how this is working in our classrooms," said first-grade teacher Amy Kieran.

The four were among 12 Pond Cove teachers who recently attended a Massachusetts conference on the Daily 5 and CAFE, presented by founding sisters Gail Bousy and Joan Moser. The teachers' participation was half funded by the School Department, half by the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation.

The Pond Cove teachers attributed the framework's success to the choices it gives students. Children may choose from five activities during their classroom literacy time: reading to self, reading to someone, writing, word work, or listening to reading.

"They have more ownership. The goals are clear. They have the power of choice in their day," said teacher Julie Nickerson. "It's a controlled choice but it's still choice as far as they're concerned.

"We're working at the first-grade level and I'm amazed at how quickly children are reading and engaged and enjoying their learning," Nickerson said.

Teachers were careful to describe the system as a framework for existing curriculum, not a new curriculum itself.

The Daily 5 and CAFE was introduced to Pond Cove School by fourth-grade teacher Heather Geikie, who saw it at work in her son's multiage, first- and second-grade classroom in Wells before she was hired at Pond Cove.

Geikie implemented the system in her own classroom, and was soon asked to share with teams of other grades. "A majority of teachers are now using the program," Geike told members of the School Board.

Students start out by building stamina with their reading to self, first-grade teacher Karen Abbott explained. Once children can complete 10 or 15 minutes of independent work, they can work toward their CAFE goals.

Group instruction also looks different under the Daily 5 and CAFE, with students of different abilities working together on the same literacy goals and strategies. "That was kind of exciting because the kids can't really figure out which one is the 'high' group, because there is no high group," Kieran said.

"It's thrilling, it's changed everything," Kieran said. "We think it's changed even the social climate at Pond Cove because it's such an explicit way of teaching," she said.