You might want to read, Conferring by Patrick Allen. He is a master at taking
what a child says (writes) and getting to the heart of their thinking.
>>> Emma Takvoryan <roz...@hotmail.com> 2/28/2012 9:06 AM >>>
To answer all your questions (and I am so thankful to everyone for replying
because I feel overwhelmed with what I am trying to implement at times):
1. I teach 5th and 6th grade multi-age at a Montessori school. I have 10
students.2. I have 1 hour, 3 days a week to teach reading (crazy, right?)-I
use 10-15 minutes of that to do a Read-Aloud, which is where the bulk of my
reading instruction comes from.3. I teach mini-lessons at least once or twice
a week for the first 10-15 minutes. 4. I have had them write letters because
when I researched about RW I kept seeing them at as way to keep track of what
they were thinking. I also liked how it gave me a starting point for
conferencing.
I guess what I am finding is just that maybe I don't know well enough how to
take what I'm seeing in their letters and use that effectively. I don't know
if part of that is because I have such a small group of students and almost all
are proficient readers??--Reading above grade level, able to make
inferences/draw conclusions, make connections, predictions, ask questions,
etc...
That's why during my read-aloud I try to focus on looking with the students at
taking the novel to a deeper level-look at foreshadowing, theme, types of
conflict, symbolism.
Sorry for this lengthy response!
>
> I love most of this. Question : when did you teach lessons or mini
> lessons? How much time did you allot for RW?
>
> I teach middle school, but I see lots of ways to tweak this.
> Kim
> On Feb 27, 2012 4:52 PM, "Renee" <phoenix...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> > On Feb 27, 2012, at 10:35 AM, Emma Takvoryan wrote:
> >
> >> I am starting Reader's Workshop this year and the biggest problem I am
> having is when I conference with my students. I have them write me
> letters, I read them and write comments, and then when we go to conference
> I feel like I am not always saying anything of use. How do you all
> organize your conferences?
> >
> >
> > Emma, I am interested in your comment that you have your students write
> you a letter and that you respond and then you feel like you have nothing
> of use to say in your conferencing. So I would ask you these questions:
> What is your purpose in having them write you a letter? Do you require
> certain things in those letters?
> >
> > Here's why I ask:
> >
> > When I was running an independent reading program (and really, with
> anything I implemented in my classroom), I always considered how much time
> something would take AND whether or not the time was well spent. So,
> regarding these letters your students write to you, if your purpose is to
> have them tell you about their work, then you might want to consider
> skipping the letter and having them just *tell* you during your conference
> because that will take less time and give you the same outcome. If your
> reason for having them write the letter is to have them practice writing a
> letter AND give you kid-oriented documentation for their work, then I would
> use that letter as a jumping off point.
> >
> > When I conferenced with students, I did more asking then telling, because
> I wanted them to tell me about their work and also get more details. So I
> would ask them to tell me about the story they are writing, tell me about
> the book they are reading, etc. and then I would ask follow up questions to
> get more detail.
> >
> > And on organization: Every teacher needs to consider their own classroom
> environment in order to create an organized structure that works for them.
> I worked in a double classroom with another teacher. Between us, we had
> three grades (1, 2, and 3) and 40 students. Our "conference" table was
> "between" the two rooms where we could see everything and everybody at all
> times. We each had another work table off in opposite corners of the room
> that were more private.
> >
> > My students had an independent reading and writing folder in which they
> kept all their writing, checksheets, individualized spelling lists, and
> anything else related to the workshop that I'd want them to bring to
> conference with the book they were reading. I had a little marked-off
> section of my chalkboard (and yes, I had a chalkboard!!!) where my students
> signed up for a conference when they reached the end of their checksheet. I
> kept a tally sheet with every student's name on it, and the ONLY thing I
> put on that sheet was a tally when I met with a student. The only purpose
> this sheet had was for me to see immediately who might not be signing up
> for conferences. Grades, comments, etc were on the student's checksheet.
> They got a new checksheet at the end of the conference.
> >
> > So somebody is going to ask what was on the checksheet. Well, it changed
> over time, but basically it was something like this:
> >
> > Read a book.
> >
> > Write about the book. Use a prompt card.
> >
> > Draw an illustration that goes with your writing.
> >
> > Do a proofreading task or a skills worksheet.
> >
> > Go over your spelling words.
> >
> > Work on something from your writing file.
> >
> > Sign up for a conference.
> >
> > While you wait do something from the "While you wait" chart.
> >
> > Now some of these things are not going to make sense because they were
> specific to our classroom. I have Montessori certification and I ran my
> class very similarly to a Montessori environment, where all materials were
> available to students and a lot of things used task cards of some kind,
> most of which I wrote myself. For example, the "proofreading" task cards
> were similar to the Daily Oral Language most people are familiar with. They
> were numbered and color-coded (remember, three grades) and students knew to
> write the card number on their paper. The "skills worksheets" were color
> coded, in folders on the wall, with a little table right there. They were
> changed about every week and addressed things like alphabetizing,
> proofreading, rhyming, etc.
> >
> > Students had a writing file that was separate from the work folder where
> they kept starts, ideas, etc.
> >
> > The "while you wait" chart was student-generated and hung on the wall
> near the conference table. It was a list of things to do: read the walls,
> read poetry, write a poem, write a letter, share your book with another
> student, etc. I don't remember all the things on the chart.
> >
> > I could keep going, but this is just a tiny taste of what this looked
> like in my classroom.
> >
> > I spent the whole independent reading/writing time conferencing with
> students, just going down the list. I taught students to cross off their
> name, NOT erase it, so that when they signed up for a conference no one
> could "jump the line" so there were two or three columns of names. When we
> ran out of space, the first column was erased. It's a small detail, but an
> important one.... one of those structure things that evolved over time out
> of need.
> >
> > If anyone is still reading this and has specific questions, just fire
> away!
> > Renee
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