Nancie Atwell uses the dining room table as a metaphor for reading conferences.  She says that reading conferences should be a time for readers to come together to dicuss and challenge one another about books much like the conversation around the dining room table.

Definition

  • A reading conference is a discussion between student and teacher focused on the student's perceptions and thoughts about the text.

Purpose

  • The reading conference allows the teacher to combine knowledge of the state standards and the child's reading abilities to make informed decisions about the child's individualized reading instruction.
  •  It is during the reading conference that the teacher has an opportunity to sit with the student and document how the student applies reading skills and strategies as well as how the student thinks about reading.
  • Documentation from reading conferences is a way to show growth and a source for planning instruction based on student need.

 During the Conference

  • The teacher and student should be talking to one another as one reader to another reader
  • The conversation is brief and can last anywhere from three to eight minutes.
  • Teachers first gather information about the child through discussion, then decide on the teaching points, and finally relay this teaching point to the student.

 Focus

  • Reading conferences may focus on the use of text features, comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, the theme of the book, characters, and genres. 

 Questioning

  • There is not a list of questions that will work for every student’s reading conference. 
  • Some generic questions and prompts to use in the reading conference include:  “How’s it going?,” “Last time…,”  “What’s happened since?,” “How did you like this book?,” “Where there any tricky parts?,” and “I noticed.” 


Conferring Handout 

Conferring.pdf Conferring.pdf
Size : 191.787 Kb
Type : pdf

 

Check out this Prezi for more information about reading conferences!

 

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