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
Conferring for Engagement: First Steps
Aimee Buckner confers with a fourth grader who is learning how to choose books for independent reading. In this video, she gives advice in the first conference and then returns...
Conferring About Tracking Characters
In this video from a 4th grade classroom, Aimee Buckner confers with a student who is reading The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson.
From Rages to Rags: Conferring with Conner
Conferring with Conner has taken many different twists and turns throughout the year. His ability to converse about strategies during his reading has improved, but there is often a sense...
Rereading Strategy: Conferring with Emily
Sean Moore confers with 2nd grader Emily about the strategy of rereading for comprehending reading and writing.
Keeping the M
Preschool teacher Melissa Kolb works one-on-one with Daniela on the letters and sounds in her brother's name.
From Rages to Rags: Conferring with Conner
In this video, Sean Moore confers with Conner who is working on reading accurately. When he bumps into an unknown word, Sean reminds him of the kinesthetic motions for Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?
Conferring About Inferring
Katie confers with two middle school students after the inferring minilesson as they practice the strategy by annotating and discussing inferences in their picture books.
Middle School Conferring About a Series
In this video from Katie Doherty's sixth-grade classroom, Katie confers with a student who has returned to a series book she had previously rejected. Katie weaves in talk about strategies,...
Main Ideas, Summaries, and Notes in a Reading Conference
In this conference with a 4th grader, Aimee Buckner tackles text choice, notes, and main ideas all in less than five minutes.
Scaring Up Better Narratives Part 2
Aimee Buckner leads a lesson on brainstorming topics in writer's notebooks using the mentor text Some Things Are Scary. In this second installment of a three-part series, Aimee continues to confer with students and helps everyone refine potential writing topics in their notebooks.
Scaring Up Better Narratives Part 3
Aimee Buckner leads a lesson on brainstorming topics in writer's notebooks using the mentor text Some Things Are Scary. In this final installment, Aimee continues to confer with students and shares a great tip for nonfiction research.
Sticky Notes to Determine Importance
Beth Lawson confers with a third grader about her book about Blues singers. The student is keeping track of important ideas on sticky notes and has quite a collection. Beth makes suggestions about ways to organize all the notes.
Accuracy and Comprehension: Conferring in Second Grade
In this video from Sean Moore's second-grade classroom, Sean confers with a student who comprehends text well but has some issues with accuracy.
Conferring with Vita: Working Through Silence
Andie Cunningham confers with Vita, an English language learner whose first language is Russian. Vita is in the silent period. Notice how Andie coaxes communication from Vita, and manages to...
Listen In: XBox Game Writing
Heather confers with Cody about his gaming story. He starts off the conference by reading aloud an excerpt of his writing. Heather responds to it personally as well as compliments his growing awareness of audience. She then uses a mentor text “Shortstop from Tokyo” by Matt Christopher to show him how long and short sentences can be used to make active writing engaging. She ends with an invitation to play with this concept in his writing.
Accuracy and Comprehension: Conferring in 2nd Grade
In this video, Sean confers with a second grader who is working on reading the actual print words vs. substituting words that make sense in context, but may alter the meaning slightly. She begins by summarizing her series book and then they work toward the goal. Sean reinforces what is really important for her as a reader.
Point of View: Conferring with a 5th Grade Reader
In this conference with a fifth grader, Aimee Buckner shares two strategies -- one to use when putting a book away between readings, and another to help keep track of characters in a complex narrative where the point of view is constantly shifting.
Conferring: Stretching Words
Beth Lawson works with an English language learner writing his first sentence, School is over. Using tools of an alphabet chart and the strategy of stretching it out, this student works through the sentence with Beth's support.
Listen In: Writing Reviews
At first glance of Kincaid's writing folder, I saw rows and columns of data. Next to a book title was a number and then a line of letters and numbers,...
Learning to Cross-Check: Conferring with Hailey
Joan Moser confers with Hailey, a kindergartner who is working on the skill of accuracy through the strategy of cross-checking.
Concepts of Print: Conferring with a Kindergartner
Joan Moser confers with Mariano, a kindergartner who is beginning to understand basic concepts of print.
