Choice Lit Topic: Conferring
The teachable moment is what we live for – is there anything more magic than reaching a reader or writer with exactly the right words at exactly the right time? We’ve bottled some of that magic in the resources that follow, with print guidelines and scores of video examples from master teachers.
Results
Quick Take: Time Constraints in Conferences
In this two-minute video, Aimee Buckner explains how she deals with time constraints when she is conferring with students.
Quick Take: Conferring with Young English Language Learners
In this short video, Ruth Shagoury gives advice to teachers conferring with young English language learners, explaining how other English language learners can be surprisingly helpful in conferences. Â
Drawing to Learn: Conferring with Kyle
In this conference with six-year-old Kyle, Ruth Shagoury listens to him explain the stories and meaning behind his drawings during writer's workshop. Kyle's first language is Vietnamese, though English is...
Conferring in First Grade
This nine-minute video from Katie DiCesare's first-grade classroom demonstrates a range of conferring in the midst of writing workshop -- from quick on the fly conferences, to small group brainstorming...
Clearing Up Confusion
Brian needed a change. He had been voraciously reading graphic novels since school began two months ago, and I had been wondering when to start nudging him to change it...
Using Student Conferences to Build Book Choice Skills
I went through a phase last January where I just couldn't find a book that I loved. I started lots of books but didn't finish any of them. I tried...
Are You Scaffolding or Rescuing?
Do you remember where you were when you first saw the (now familiar) scaffolding diagram? Oh, come on. You know the one. The long rectangle with a diagonal line stretching from...
Books We Love: Building a Reading Community
As the year comes to an end it feels natural to celebrate the books we've loved. In previous years, I invited my students to list their favorite books on a...
Conferring with Children: Principles and Procedures
Just for fun, when we're in a new classroom of young children together, we often introduce ourselves and begin by asking the class a question. "Who do you think is...
Animals as Ambassadors: Using Class Pets to Reach an English Language Learner
Teachers collect a variety of usual and unusual items for their classrooms and students. You just never know when and why you'll need these treasures, but you know you will...
Conferring with Colin
In this reading conference with Colin, Joan Moser (of "The Sisters") helps him set a goal of working on accuracy.
Student Reading Interview: Assessing Ana Part 2
This is the second video in a two-part series. Principal Karen Szymusiak interviewed Ana, a second grader, to learn more about her strengths and needs as a reader. In this...
Conferring with Children
One of the hardest things for us to learn in improving our conferring skills was to truly get up, move about, and start conferring with children one-on-one. We were accustomed...
Conferring About Character Traits
In this conference from a fifth-grade classroom, Clare Landrigan meets with a student to reinforce learning from a whole-class lesson on inferring and character traits. Clare helps the student pull...
Conferring with Emily: Moving from Questions to Content
In this conference with six-year-old Emily, Ruth Shagoury looks for a way into a conversation by using Emily's drawings, previous writing, and interests. Emily's first language is Hmong, and she...
Coaching in Kindergarten: Conferring
What's in a name? For kindergartner Maria, it's the start of learning how letters and sounds work. In this coaching session, Joan Moser of "The Sisters" helps Daniel understand how...
Student Reading Interview: Assessing Ana
Principal Karen Szymusiak interviews Ana, a second grader, to learn more about her strengths and needs as a reader. Here are some sample reading interview questions: How would you...
Learning from Graphica: Conferring with Students
In this lesson from a 4th grade classroom, Sarah Thibault introduces students to a writing activity. Students will be creating their own comic books, after extensive preparation and experience with...
Conferring Close-Up: Test-Taking Strategies Part II
Samantha Bennett's energizing book, That Workshop Book: New Systems and Structures for Classrooms That Read, Write, and Think, asks teachers to reflect on their classroom environments and teaching practices. Bennett...
Keeping the M
In an age of standardization, when even preschoolers are expected to perform flawlessly on literacy tests such as letter naming and recognition, it is important for early childhood teachers to...
Conferring with Eddie
Eddie is a six-year-old student who speaks Cantonese as his first language. In this conference with Ruth Shagoury, little English is spoken, and yet there is much communication through gestures...
