It’s been challenging to determine how someone else might navigate through my thoughts for teaching English Language Arts and find items that are useful to them. I’ve changed my mind more times than I can count on what information should be a page of stationary ideas or what information should be a category of updating posts. I hope you persevere and find something you can use. 😉
First before talking about what happens at my “Teacher Table” or what’s at the Work Stations, I must give a commercial for the 2 Sisters ~ Gail Boushey and Joan Moser and their framework the Daily 5 and CAFE. When a colleague (thanks Erica F. S.) first shared the 1st edition of The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades nine years ago, I thought, “No, not one more program. I’m not listening.” Boy, am I glad she didn’t stop sharing because of my initial whining. The more I learned and tried, the more I thought, “Duh, the Sisters have figured it out!” They had the same goals we’ve had for our literacy block, but I learned they had developed a framework that made sense.

It answered the questions… How do I get the kiddos to be independent? How do I have a small group? How do I ever have a moment to meet with a single kiddo? How do I get a 5 year old to see their role in “being” a reader? What strategies should I focus on for an emergent reader versa a reader with only certain issues? Will it work with my kiddos? How do I keep track of strengths and weaknesses of the kiddos?

The 2nd edition of Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades is even a better read than the first edition. You’ll need your very own copy of that book and The CAFE Book: Engaging All Students in Daily Literary Assessment and Instruction don’t share. I referred to mine constantly and enjoyed marking it up. 🙂 I love highlighters, tabs, and fun ink colors. These books totally changed my mindset for teacher English Language Arts and made my literacy block meaningful. I would also recommend becoming a member of the Daily Cafe because the weekly articles, videos, and resources will keep you inspired. View this video of the 2 Sisters, Joan Moser and Gail Boushey, giving an overview of their site. Don’t worry that you’re doing it wrong, I personally don’t think you could. Just stick your toe in… do the Daily 2 if you have to. 
In the years since that first introduction to the Sisters, our K-1 Looping Team conducted book studies for our campus, developed I-charts, menus, had many, many visitors, and got to see teachers and administrators join us in changing our literacy blocks for the better. We were finally productive and happy and the kiddos were actually independent during the literacy block. The best confirmation, for me, was when a 4th grade teacher mentioned in August that she had to really negotiate with her kiddos concerning how long they wanted “Read to Self” to last.

Until next time,