Teachers interested in learning more can learn more at www.thedailycafe.com.
The CAFÉ Menu
CAFÉ is an acronym for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary
The CAFÉ Menu
CAFÉ is an acronym for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary
Making Connections
Students use what they know to help them connect to and better understand the text.
Students use what they know to help them connect to and better understand the text.
- Text to Self Connections ( T - S ): Students use information from their own lives and experiences to connect to or better understand the text.
- Text to Text Connections ( T - T ): Students use the knowledge of other books or selections they have read to connect to or better understand the text.
- Text to World Connections: ( T - W ): Students use the knowledge of the world and events going on in the world to connect to or better understand the text.
- Text to Self
- That reminds me of...
- It reminds me of the time I...
- It makes me think of...
- This is different from...
- Text to Text
- I read another book where...
- It reminds me of something I read before...
- Text to World
- It reminds me of something I heard about before...
Questioning
Students will ask questions and search for answers before, during and after reading to help them better understand the text.
Categorizing Questions
· Questions that are answered in the text- A
· Questions that are answered from someone’s background knowledge- BK
· Questions whose answers can be inferred from the text- I
· Questions that can be answered by further discussion- D
· Questions that require further research to be answered- RS
· Questions that signal confusion- Huh? or C
Prompts to help a student express his/her questioning:
Students will ask questions and search for answers before, during and after reading to help them better understand the text.
Categorizing Questions
· Questions that are answered in the text- A
· Questions that are answered from someone’s background knowledge- BK
· Questions whose answers can be inferred from the text- I
· Questions that can be answered by further discussion- D
· Questions that require further research to be answered- RS
· Questions that signal confusion- Huh? or C
Prompts to help a student express his/her questioning:
- I wonder...
- I was confused when...
- I am not sure why...
- I am curious about...
- How does...?
- Why did...?
- How could that be....?
- Why do you think...?
- Who...?
- What...?
- Where...?
- When....?
- Why...?
Visualizing
Students create a picture in their minds and use all of their senses to help them understand the text. The mental images help the students create a "movie in their mind".
Prompts to help a student express his/her visualizing:
Students create a picture in their minds and use all of their senses to help them understand the text. The mental images help the students create a "movie in their mind".
Prompts to help a student express his/her visualizing:
- I visualized...
- I could hear (smell, see, taste, feel)...
- I could picture...
- A mental image I had was...
Inferring
Students will question as they read to help them draw conclusions, make predictions, evaluate, judge and reflect on their reading. When the author does not answer the student's questions, he/she must make inferences.
Prompts to help a student express his/her inferences:
Students will question as they read to help them draw conclusions, make predictions, evaluate, judge and reflect on their reading. When the author does not answer the student's questions, he/she must make inferences.
Prompts to help a student express his/her inferences:
- I am guessing that...
- I predict...
- I think...
- It would be better if...
- Maybe...
- It could be...
- I really liked how...
- It's because...
- If I were the main character...
- What I didn't like was...
- It means that...
- Perhaps...
Determining Important Ideas
Students read to find and understand the main ideas and what the author thinks is important (author's message).
Prompts to help a student express his/her important ideas:
Students read to find and understand the main ideas and what the author thinks is important (author's message).
Prompts to help a student express his/her important ideas:
- The most important ideas are...
- So far I have learned that...
- The text was mostly about...
- The author is trying to tell us that...
- The most interesting parts were...
- I noticed that...
- I learned...
- The important details were...
- The story was about...
Synthesizing
Students combine new ideas with ones they already know to get something new and different. The new information helps them to better understand the text.
Prompts to help a student express his/her synthesis:
Students combine new ideas with ones they already know to get something new and different. The new information helps them to better understand the text.
Prompts to help a student express his/her synthesis:
- Now I understand that...
- This makes me think of...
- This gives me an idea...
- This compared to...
- I learned that...
- I understand this because of...
- That was different from...