Individual Reading Conference
The reading conference is…
- a powerful teaching tool.
- a way to move readers toward independence.
- a time to provide specific feedback.
- a method for providing individualized, developmentally appropriate instruction.
Initial Questions – choose a few of the following:
- How’s it going?
- Why did you choose this book?
- Have you read any other books by this author?
- Why do you like or dislike this book so far?
- Who are the main characters? Tell me about them. How did you feel about one of them? Which characters were the most well-developed?
- Was there a problem in the story? Tell me about it.
- Did you solve the problem before you read about it? How?
- Did you come up with a different solution than the author? What was it?
- How did the story end?
- Did the ending surprise you? How?
- What was your favorite part? Tell me about it.
- Was there anything confusing about the author’s style?
- What did you admire about the author’s style that you might use in your own writing?
- What techniques did the author use to grab your attention?
What were some interesting vocabulary words you found in this book? Can you define them?
Research – assess skills and strategies:
Ask the child to read orally a page from a chapter book or several pages from a picture book. As the child reads, observe and take note of the following strategies:
- Does the child self-correct?
- Does the child use picture clues to help when stuck?
- Does the child skip the word and read on, coming back to figure it out? (Context clues)
- Does the child substitute a word that doesn’t begin with the same sound but makes sense in the sentence? (Good strategy if not done too often).
- Does the child repeat part of a sentence when stuck on a word?
- Does the child say a word that begins with the same sound? (Even if it is not the correct word).
- Does the child reverse letters? (eg: “was” for “saw”)
- Does the child wait or look at you for help often?
- Does the child miss so many words that it may hurt comprehension?
Instruct:
- Choose 1 or 2 “teaching points” based on your observations and discuss them during the conference.
- Record the date and important observations on the anecdotal notes section of the Reading Evaluation form.