The CAFE Menu
3
Comprehension
I understand what I read
Strategies
Check for understanding
Back up and reread
Use prior knowledge to connect with text
Make and adjust predictions; use text to
confirm
Monitor and fix up
Infer and support with evidence
Make a picture or mental image
Ask questions throughout the reading
process
Use text features (titles, headings, captions,
graphic features)
Summarize text; include sequence of main
events
Use main idea and supporting details to
determine importance
Determine and analyze author’s purpose
and support with text
Recognize literacy elements (genre, plot,
character, setting, problem/resolution,
theme)
Recognize and explain cause-and-effect
relationships
Compare and contrast within and between
text
Accuracy
I can read the words
Strategies
Cross checking . . .
Do the pictures and/or
words look right? Do they
sound right? Do they
make sense?
Use the pictures . . .
Do the words and
pictures match?
Use beginning and ending
sounds
Blend sounds; stretch and
reread
Flip the sound
Chunk letters and sounds
together
Skip the word, then come
back
Trade a word/guess a word
that makes sense
Fluency
I can read accurately, with
expression, and understand
what I read
Strategies
Voracious reading
Read appropriate-level texts
that are a good fit
Reread text
Practice common sight words
and high-frequency words
Adjust and apply different
reading rates to match
text
Use punctuation to enhance
phrasing and prosody
(end marks, commas,
etc.)
Expand Vocabulary
I know, find, and use
interesting words
Strategies
Voracious reading
Tune in to interesting words
and use new vocabulary
in speaking and writing
Use pictures, illustrations, and
diagrams
Use word parts to determine
the meaning of words
(prefixes, suffixes, origins,
abbreviations, etc.)
Use prior knowledge and
context to predict and
confirm meaning
Ask someone to define the
word for you
Use dictionaries, thesauruses,
and glossaries as tools
Behaviors That Support Reading
Get started right away Stay in one spot Work quietly Read the whole time Increase stamina Select and read good-fit books
