Reading, writing, and loving it!

We use the Daily Five/CAFE Program literacy structure in Grades K-5 at St. Anthony. Daily Five teaches independence and gives children the skills needed to create a lifetime love of reading and writing. Instead of worksheets, children are immersed in reading books they love, sharing stories with each other, and writing creatively.

The structure is effective, the results are amazing, and our students look forward to Daily Five time every day.

Daily Five consists of 5 tasks that are introduced individually:

When introduced to each task, the children discuss what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to engage in the task independently. Then, they work on building stamina until they can work independently on each task.

Teachers work with students in small groups and one-on-one to develop literacy skills. Learn more on the Daily 5 website.

CAFE stands for:

The CAFE skills are developed through our students' Daily Five work. As they work through their Daily Five tasks, they refer to the CAFE Menu posted in each classroom to make sure they are reading and writing with these skills in mind. 

Learn more on the CAFE site. 

Some key concepts you will hear your kids talk about are building stamina, choosing Good Fit Books, and working toward independence.

Your students get to select the books they read and often choose what they write about. Research shows that allowing children to read books they love is the best way to improve reading skills. Be sure to ask them what they're reading, and ask them to read some of their writing projects to you.