Individual Writing Conference

Nov 11, 2009 by Annemarie

The individual writing conference is a powerful teaching tool that moves children toward independence in writing.  The writing conference is a time to meet with children one-on-one to celebrate successes and to provide individualized, developmentally appropriate instruction.  Learning cannot occur without feedback—the writing conference is a time to provide that feedback.

Providing feedback to emergent writers:

Comment on the message (content) first.

Ask questions about the text: “How did this make you feel?”  “Where were you when this happened?”

Show the student what s/he did right.

Use an emerging behavior as a teaching point.

If the writing cannot be deciphered, write the child’s intended message at the bottom of the page.

Have the student reread the text.

Providing feedback to early/developing writers:

• Read or have the student read the text aloud.
• Comment on the message.
• Show the student what s/he did right.
• Choose 1-2 teaching points to model problem-solving on something “used but confused.”
• If publishing the piece, quickly provide necessary corrections.
• If the piece will not be published, don’t worry about correcting every error—stick to 1-2 teaching points.
• Have the student reread the text.
• Record observations and anecdotal notes.

Questions that can help guide writers:

• How’s it coming so far?  What are you working on?
• Can you tell me about your story?
• How can I help you?
• Do you need to change your topic?
• Do you know the topic well enough to write about it?
• What would you like to change?
• Is there more than one story in this piece?
• What are your plans for this piece?

I keep track of my anecdotal notes by recording them in my Assessment Notebook.

In the writing section of the notebook I photocopy one of the following front-to-back forms for each student: