I need your help! It is late, I'm fighting a headache, and I've had an idea. I'm planning to implement the Daily 5 and CAFE next year. I'm actually going to run a bit with the cafe` theme since I'm dealing with 6th graders. I'd also like to incorporate a focus wall. My question now is, how far do I carry the cafe/food theme?
My initial idea was to create a food that went with each genre - like Mystery Meatloaf. However, I've got about 12 genres that I need to teach (or are involved in the 40 book challenge) and that might get tricky.
Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just incorporate the CAFE board (and thereby the food theme) into my focus wall. Maybe generate a food for each section of the focus wall? Here are some ideas I played with in Paint. Can you help? (The pics are as big as I can make them to fit the blog. If you click them, they'll be full size.)
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| My original idea |
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| After adding CAFE to the focus wall |
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| Shrank Vocab. and added PIE |
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| Added meal courses for the "School Name" Cafe |
I think this will help with the buy-in from my 6th graders. I can tie it to eating - you can't eat just one type of food. So when we read, we have to pay attention to all parts, even things we might not enjoy (like spelling, vocab.) Our school name begins with a C, so it goes well with "cafe."
I'm stopping myself here, even though I've still got ideas like...
- Instead of using words like "pasta" should I get more specific? Perhaps, "Spaghetti Structures" is better?
- Should I not bother? Just keep the plain and simple focus wall?
Help! Please offer your input! (I know I've got lots of new visitors out there - this is a chance to introduce yourself! Please?)
5 comments:
I probably can't help much since I'm not a good decision maker! First, I think you "should" do the food as part of your focus wall. But I like both ways of using the food-general and specific so can't choose one over the other! You are so techie! When I grow up I want to be like you! :)
Great idea! I think it's a great way to grab those older readers and engage them in the whole program. I teach Grade 5 and planning to implement Daily 5 this year. This gives me something new to think about. Thanks for the post. Now .. off for a snack ;)
Wow! You gals are quick! I'm glad you both think I'm on a good track. This late at night, I can't tell if I'm out in left field or not. :)
And Shannon, it isn't hard to be techie :) I just play and fiddle around til I get things how I like. (And the blog doesn't record all the cuss words I might say along the way!)
Hi! Just found your blog and I love your focus wall idea! I definitely like the connection with the food theme. One idea: with 6th graders, I might leave some of the "foods" blank and brainstorm what they think a balanced meal should include. If they create the categories themselves they might have a greater buy-in. Of course, you'll probably have to include Cheetos as one of your courses if you ask for their input!
I am new to Daily 5 and CAFE this year too and am excited to try it in my 5th grade class. Looking forward to reading more of your great ideas!
Shauna
That's a good idea, Shauna. Maybe I'll leave most categories without a food and the kids can decide. I'll have 3 "blocks" of kids, so maybe 2 sections each.
Thanks for stopping by!
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