Which strategies to assign?

[tammy_may1]

So I am dabbling in CAFE this year. I have only a few strategies up so far. I have had most of the students choose the area they want to work on for their goal. Now I want to have them decide on a strategy to work on first. What if I don't have a strategy posted yet? Do I teach it to the kid who needs it or do I introduce all strategies in whole group lessons first? What if a majority of the class doesn't need strategy? Do I teach it whole group anyway and then move it into a strategy group?

Thanks for any help.
Tammy

[SarahKlinczar]

Tammy,
Yay for you for trying out CAFE!

Keeping the CAFE menu handy during your individual goal setting conferences is helpful for having students choose strategies that haven't been taught whole group yet. There is also an "if-->then" type of sheet (From Assessment to Conferring: Sample Needs and Strategies) that I used a lot when first starting with CAFE. It is in the CAFE book on page 153 in the appendix.

Then, once your student chooses a strategy to work on, you can teach that strategy one on one OR small group if you end up having a group of students working on the same strategy! I only teach strategies whole group if it is a strategy at least 80% of my students need.

I hope this helps and good luck with all your CAFE endeavors!