Uretsky, CACD Tufts University, July 2008 1

Conferring with Readers

Marcia Uretsky

CACD, Tufts University

July, 2008

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Workshop Goals- Day 2

Dual Roles of Reading ConferencesReading SurgerySupport Focus Lessons

Language to Support Comprehension Conferences to Help Students Select “Just

Right” Books Small Groups Based on Conference Notes

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Focus Lesson -Interactive Read Aloud(Whole Class) -Shared Reading

Read and Confer -Independent Reading(Individual and -Small Group ReadingSmall Group)

Group Share/ -Share

Wrap-up -Reinforce(Whole Class) -Celebrate

-Discuss

The Architecture of Readers’ Workshop

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Dual Role of Reading Conferences

Reading Surgery Teach the reader, not the text

Support Curriculum Coach student to apply strategy taught in

Focus Lesson

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Conference goals for the teacher:

To coach the student to think actively To assess what the student knows and

needs to learn To teach the reader To motivate the student to read more and

to apply the strategies taught

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Conference goals for the student:

To apply reading strategies. To develop metacognitive skills To talk about books in a variety of

ways, (e.g. author’s craft, character development, preferences).

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Focus Lesson Planning Sheet

Focus Lesson Topic

Materials

Connection

Explicit Instruction

Guided Practice

Send Off [for Independent Practice]

Conferring questions to help students actively apply focus lesson topic.

Group Wrap Up

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Unit of Study Focus Lesson Topic(s) Possible Conference Questions

Launching Readers’ Workshop

We are all readers! (building community) Procedures and Routines for Independent Reading Review: Just Right Books & Genres

Reading is Thinking(strategy)

Reading IS Thinking; Readers monitor their inner conversation.

Readers think in different ways Readers create sensory images Thinking changes as you gather more information Readers use information from the text to support

their thinking Readers talk to develop their thinking

Making Connections(strategy)

We all have schema We use our schema to make connections to our

reading We connect to how characters feel We connect to understand a situation

Folktales(genre)

Immersion: (Develop schema for genre) Definition of genre Characteristics of folktales Noting characteristics in textsStudy: Making connections between texts Folktales are stories that reflect a culture Inferring theme Reading Like a Writer- structure/languageSynthesizing what we learned about folktales Talking like an expert about a genre with a

partner Reading a folktale like an expert to an audience

Yearlong Unit of Study Calendar For _____SAMPLE (p. 1)

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Month Unit of Study Focus Lesson Topic(s) Possible Conference Questions

January nonfiction strategies

February Poetry

March

April author study

May-June

SAMPLE (p. 2)

Yearlong Unit of Study Calendar For _____

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Small Group Action

Record units of study you currently teach on curriculum map.

List focus lesson topics. Brainstorm conference questions that

would encourage students application of lesson.

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Conference notes are a source of information

to organize small group instruction.

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What are the strategiesstrong readers use?

What strategies do the students need

to learn?

How many students need to learn that strategy?

What component of the Balanced Literacy Model will I

teach through?

What does the focus lesson look

like?What text will I

use?

Ongoing Assessment

Running RecordsConferencingObservation

Planning for Strategy Instruction

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Conferences as the source of information to organize small groups.

Partner work: Think about students at your grade level. What are typical patterns of need you find

in your students? Identify patterns for small group

instruction.

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Ways to Organize Conference NotesWhat is Important

User friendly. Not unnecessarily complicated.

Record and reflect over time. Way to keep track of who to confer with. Access for support staff who also confer

with your students. Space to record information you need.

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Sharon Taberski’s Notes

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Debbie Miller’s Notes

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Research, Decide, Teach and record

Date/Title/Level What does the student know?

What does the student need to

learn?

How can I teach this?

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Take Away Messages

1. Reading conference have dual purposes:

• Reading surgery

• To support focus lessons

2. Both types of conference follow a RDT,R structure.

3. In reality, conferences flow between supporting the Unit of Study and supporting each reader.

3. Teachers synthesize patterns from conferences to organize small group instruction.

4. Readers Workshop is a structure that allows for differentiation.