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Check out Stevi Quate's Padlet about Conferring!

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Check out Stevi Quate's Padlet about Conferring!

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Reading & Writing Workshop: Conferring

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What does a reading or writing conference look and sound like? What do I need to know to confer well?

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Using Writing Learning Progressions to Confer

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TAILORING OUR TEACHING: NO NEED TO WING IT IF YOU’VE GOT GREAT CONFERRING NOTES

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How to Determine a Writing Conference Goal

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How to Determine a Writing Conference Goal

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by Jennifer Serravallo

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It's crucial to spend time making sure you're choosing the right goal to focus on for each writer in your classroom. Choosing an appropriate goal requires that you have a deep knowledge of your students, developed through assessments and by talking to your students and getting to know them as people. You'll likely plan to spend time observing them as they write and meeting with them in conferences to learn about their interests and hopes for their writing. You'll also likely do more formal assessments such as asking them to write "on demand" (completing a piece of writing in one sitting) and looking at those pieces for qualities of writing that you hope to teach.

The ten goal categories I use are: Composing with Pictures, Engagement, Generating Ideas, Focus, Structure/Organization, Elaboration, Word Choice, Conventions: Spelling, Conventions: Punctuation & Grammar, and Partnerships & Clubs. I have arranged these ten goals into a hierarchy to help me prioritize when I discover a student could use support with more than one goal (see image at top left). Think of it not as a hierarchy of most important to least, or from simplest to most sophisticated. Instead, this is a hierarchy of action. For example, if I notice a child could use support in two areas-say, structure and elaboration-I'm inclined to start with the one that's closest to the top (structure) and work my way down (elaboration). Think of that example. Why teach a child to fill her page with details if the details are disorganized and it will make the writing difficult to follow?

The first goal is composing with pictures. It's a goal centered around teaching children to use sketches and illustrations to tell stories, teach, and/or persuade. The idea behind this first goal is that even before children are able to write conventionally with words, they can compose pieces of work using what they can do- draw pictures. Also, as children get older, using pictures as way to practice qualities of good writing, and as a way to plan their writing, has lots of value.

Engagement comes next because unless students see themselves as writers, have the stamina to sit and write, and want to write, it'll be hard to focus on qualities. They've got to practice to improve.

Generating ideas is a goal that's close to the top of the list because it's crucial to help children come up with their own topics and ideas for their writing. An inability to do so could also be a root cause of disengagement with writing. Independent writers need a never-ending bank of things to write about.

Focus is the next goal category because when a writer sets out to write a piece, there should be something that helps it to be cohesive. It could be an idea, it could be a thesis statement, it could be a focus on a period of time (as is sometimes the case with some stories). But it can't be wandering all over the place. Without focus, it's hard to know what details to add and what to take away, and it's hard to have a purpose or meaning behind the writing.

Next: structure. A piece needs to be organized so that a reader is able to follow the story, the argument, or the categories of what's being taught. Having a clear structure, and having solid parts within that structure (lead, middle, ending, for example), helps a writer to know how to use detail effectively.

The next two goals- elaboration and word choice -appear side-by-side on the hierarchy. Each goal will help writers fill out the structure they've created. Elaboration is about helping children to add the right amount and the right types of details to connect to the meaning, genre, and structure of their piece. Word choice is about the careful decisions a writer makes on the word level.

The next two goals are about conventions-one on spelling and one on grammar. These live side by side in the hierarchy as well. They are toward the bottom of the hierarchy not because I think they are less important, but because I'm more apt to help a student with one of the other goals before these if the others aren't solid. Students will have more energy for editing their spelling, or considering their punctuation choices, or looking over their piece to correct dangling modifiers if they care about what they wrote and there are sufficient, well-organized details included in the piece.

The final goal focuses on partnerships and writing clubs. This is one that you'll likely weave throughout your whole year for every student. There may also be some students who would benefit from a particular, personalized focus on how to collaborate within a group.

Just as I feel sure enough that this hierarchy is largely what drives my decision making when I work with student writers, I'd be lying if I said there aren't exceptions. Perhaps, for instance, the reason a student's writing volume is low is because she doesn't have any ideas. Well, in that case, I'd start with the goal on generating strategies. Or maybe a student needs help with structuring his writing, but there are so few details that there isn't much to put a structure around. In that case, I might help him brainstorm what else he could say, and then we could go back to organize it.

Some of you may wondering: what about voice and craft? I didn't make either a goal on its own because I believe writer's voice is communicated through many aspects of writing including syntax de cisions (which would fall under the punctuation and grammar goal) and the vocabulary she chooses to use (which falls under the word choice goal). A writer makes craft decisions at many points of the process and in many aspects of the piece, including the details she chooses to include (elaboration) and how the piece flows (organization and structure). In a way, to me it seems like writing well is all about craft and voice.

These 10 goals are the chapters for my soon-to-be-released Writing Strategies Book. Each chapter has anywhere from 20-45 strategies that will help writers work toward the goal, with a total of 300 strategies across the book. For more information, visit here.

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It's crucial to spend time making sure you're choosing the right goal to focus on for each writer in your classroom. Choosing an appropriate goal requires that you have a deep knowledge of your students, developed through assessments and by talking to your students and getting to know them as people.

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So, my sweet friend asked if I had blogged about my writing conferences and I realized that I NEEDED to do that! So, this one is for you, Carmen!

Because I do , I like to check their writing folders once a week and have a writing conference with my students. You might do something like this for writer's workshop. I'm doing guided reading during Daily 5, so I don't have writing conferences right then. I have writing conferences during their morning work (which is journals in my classroom), I meet with 5 students each day (2 minutes each). I like to do it QUICK and make their writing conference more about celebrating their writing than telling them what to work on.

I use this form {click the picture to download}:

And I keep them in {} binder:

Here's a pretend example of what the sheet looks like:

So.. basically my students write during work on writing and when they are finished, they put their finished page in the side of their 2-pocket folder that says "finished" (then they start a new one). If the bell rings before they finish, they stick it in the side pocket that says "unfinished".

Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy! When I'm ready to have a writing conference with them, I call them to my back table during morning work and I quickly read their pages. I remind them what goal they should have been working on and I make a new goal with them. I ALWAYS celebrate lots and lots. I really want to build confident writers!

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So, my sweet friend asked if I had blogged about my writing conferences and I realized that I NEEDED to do that! So, this one is for you, Carmen! Because I do , I like to check their writing folders once a week and have a writing conference with my students.

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I can't tell you how many times I have been asked this question. Teachers who ask this are not questioning the value of conferring itself, just the notetaking that comes during/after the conference.
Typical reasons I hear against notetaking:

"If I spend time writing notes, I end up conferring with fewer students."

"I don't know which is the right form to use or the right way to do it."

Even before I was immersed in workshop teaching, I always believed that it was important to keep anecdotal notes on my students. That doesn't mean I was good at it, but I did do it. I am here to tell you that there is not one right form or method, but I do believe that notetaking is a non-negotiable. Here are a few of my reasons:

We are in an age of accountability. If I don't take notes on the valuable instruction I am providing during one-on-one and small group conferences, I have no record or evidence of that instruction. When a parent or administrator asks what I am doing for a particular child, I want to be able to whip out my notes with specifics.

My memory just isn't that good. I often can't remember what I had for dinner the day before. How can I remember the teaching points for 25-30 students as I conduct ongoing conferences with them? I use my notes not only to keep track of what I did with a child, but also to note ideas for further instruction. I simply can't keep all of that in my head.

At parent-teacher conference time, I love to be able to show parents what their child has been working on. A grade on a report card means nothing. It is the evidence that supports that grade that counts. I will never forget the time that a parent looked me in the eye during a conference and said, "Thank you for taking specific notes on my child. That means a lot to me."

So now that you know my stance that conferring notes are non-negotiable, how can we remove some roadblocks?

First, what is the right form to use? There isn't one. I have changed mine often. I have used something as simple as a piece of notebook paper for each student placed behind a tab labeled for that student in my conferring notebook. When I did this, I either wrote notes directly on the page or wrote them on computer labels that I carried on a clipboard and later placed on the child's notebook page.

I have also created and adapted from other teachers a variety of forms. Here are just a few that you are welcome to use or (more likely) adapt to meet your needs:

Reading Conference Sheet (one student/page)
Writing Conference Notes (15 students/page)
Writing Assessment Sheet (includes 2 pages/student-make additional copies of page 2 as needed)
Reading Assessment Sheet (includes 2 pages/student-make additional copies of page 2 as needed)
If you are techno-savvy and have access to an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, you may want to keep your notes with the Confer app (see my blogpost This Seals The Deal for more information.

Next, what about the concern that if we take time to keep records, we meet with fewer students? I say, "So what." So what if I confer with five students instead of six today. I've never given myself a conferring quota for the day. I prefer to shoot for quality, not quantity, and for me, jotting a few notes during/after each conference contributes to the quality of the conference.

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I can't tell you how many times I have been asked this question. Teachers who ask this are not questioning the value of conferring itself, just the notetaking that comes during/after the conference. Typical reasons I hear against notetaking: "If I spend time writing notes, I end up conferring with fewer students."

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Candace Granfelt  Teachers College, Columbia University

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Writing conferences took place multiple times per week in the first grade classroom. This provided an opportunity for teachers to meet one on one with students during the writer's workshop period....

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Student Conference Page Sample - The Daily Cafe

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The Daily CAFE is a Professional Development website designed for teachers and literacy coaches using The Daily 5 and The Literacy CAFE Assessment System. It is loaded with professional video and downloads, all created for teachers like you!

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Scroll through the guide to see examples of notes

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I love using Post-Its for the informal, quick assessments, but I recently came across a fantastic resource for more formal conferences: Google Forms!

Have you ever used Google Forms before? They are SUPER easy to create and you can access them from any computer, including iPads. Plus, they have fun backgrounds to choose from, so it makes me smile every time i pull them up ;)

Farrah, from Think * Share* Teach has a wonderful tutorial to take you through this entire process! I created one for my own classroom and believe me, it took no time at all!

You can see a few pieces in the screenshot above, but here's the full list of what I have on my Reading Conference form:

Name

Book Title

Fiction/Nonfiction

Level (drop down menu with levels J-T+)

Fluency (1-4 based on unsat-advanced)

Comprehension (1-4 based on unsat-advanced)

CAFE Strength (I used checkboxes so I can check off more than one)

Examples

CAFE Focus

Focus Strategies (I left this blank so I can type it in quickly)

Observations

Next Steps

You can see the full example of my Reading Conference form HERE.

My Writing Conference form is similar and uses the 6 Traits if Writing. The specifics are:

Name

Title/Topic of Piece

Mentor Text/Minilesson that inspired this piece (if applicable)

Quick Draft Assessment (1-4 based on unsat-advanced)

Writing Strengths (using 6 Traits categories)

Examples

Writing Focus (using 6 Traits strategies)

Teaching Points & Next Steps

You can see the full example of my Writing Conference form HERE.
I LOVE Google Forms since I can customize each section based on what I need and what my kids need- yay! Plus, I can put a bookmark to these forms on my iPad and use it all over the classroom with any student- very easy!

I also love that it timestamps each entry- are you as bad as me with dates?! I have found so many notes throughout the years that have not date and I feel it renders the info useless- Google takes care of that down to the second :)

Best of all, you can access your data in a spreadsheet and graphs. Super-neat, super-organized, and all ready to go for grouping, conversations with other teachers, your principal and/or parents, report cards... everything!

I am so excited to use this next year! Be sure to stop by Think * Share* Teach for the full tutorial. What else do you think you could use Google Forms for? I am thinking other informal assessment times... maybe math groups?

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Using Google Forms for Reading & Writing Conferences

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I love using Post-Its for the informal, quick assessments, but I recently came across a fantastic resource for more formal conferences: Google Forms! Have you ever used Google Forms before? They are SUPER easy to create and you can access them from any computer, including iPads.

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Choice Literacy - Articles & Videos - Full Article

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The time that I put into developing a structure that my conferences follow -- which I call the RIP format in the book -- I think that just having a structure to conferences really helped me realize that it was more than just sitting down and having a conversation.