Blog #7 The Power of Reading Conferences

I am currently teaching at a school that has adopted the Reading and Writing Workshop Curriculum 6-8. While we just finished our third year of implementation for the Units of Study for Writing, last year, was the first year of implementing the Units of Study Reading Curriculum in grades 6-8. One area I was curious to do more research on was about reading conferences. My question is, “how can reading conferences be used to support struggling readers?” To answer this question I spent some time digging into research about reading conferences. 

What is a reading conference: 

According to Serravallo (2019) “Connfering is the heartbeat of the literacy block” (p. 1). During a conference you engage with students one-on-one or in small groups and, “it allows you to value each child's language and literacy practices, and their own literacy development, and to treat each child as a competent learner (Serravallo, 2019, p. 1). Conferences allow teachers to meet each student where they are at and provide support to help each student grow as a reader.  

What Conferring IS	What Conferring IS NOT
A conversation with a student A time to offer individualized instruction A time to provide assessment-based guidance A time to offer guided practice and feedback A time to support student self-reflection A time for students to work A time to teach the reader	A pop quiz A time to reteach everyone the same lesson from the whole-class lesson A time to make random, off-the-cuff remarks A time to do extensive modeling/demonstration A lecture with an audience of one A time for teachers to do all the talking A time to teach the book

(Serravallo, 2019) 

Routman (2003) has written that one of the strongest predictors of reading achievement is the quality of the teacher-student relationship. Reading conferences allow teachers to engage with students in small-groups and one-on-one to not only strengthen reading skills but to establish relationships with each student. 

How Much Time Does it Take: 

Serravallo (2019) suggests teachers, “try to check in with each of your students and support their individual reading goals twice a week” (P. 4) While you are engaging in reading conferences the rest of the class can be engaging in reading. 

Types of Conferences: 

Type of Conference	Purposes	Timing
Assessment Conferences	Learn about the student Involve the student in self-reflection Figure out what areas of strength and what areas of need the student has Make sure the student is matched well to their books	5-7 minutes
Goal-Setting Conference	Involve the student in self-reflection Establish an appropriate goal based on strengths and needs	5 minutes
Compliment Conference	Reinforce strengths Encourage a students' use of strategies Monitor progress and check-in	2 minutes
Coaching Conference	Teach a new strategy or reteach a previously taught strategy Coach and give feedback Save time when you know what you’ll Teach	3 minutes
Research- Compliment-Teach Conference	Research what strategy would be most helpful to teach within a student’s goal.  Check-in with the reader before deciding on today’s strategy Teach a new strategy or reteach a previously taught strategy Offer the student time to practice with feedback from the teacher	5 minutes
Strategy Lesson	Work with a small group of 2-4 students to teach a targeted strategy.  Monitor and provide feedback to individual students about the strategy	7-10 Minutes
Partnership and Book Club Conference	While students are working in small groups, support students’ individual goals, their collaboration and/or conversations.	4-5 Minutes

(Serravallo, 2019, P. 100-101) 

Example Reading Conference:

In the video below you can see Jennifer Serravallo completing a reading Research-Compliment-Teach conference. From this conference, you can see how Serravallo

1) Research: Determine what the student is currently doing and thinking about what are the next steps for that reads.

2) Decide: Choose something to compliment and something to teach

3) Compliment: Name the strategy the student is currently using and state why it is helpful

4) Teach: Offer the student a new strategy that builds off a strength

5) Coach: Give the student a chance to practice and provide feedback and support

6) Link: Repeat the strategy that you taught the student and connect it to future reading

In my research about reading conferences, it is clear that reading conferences are an effective strategy to meet the needs of all readers. By engaging in targeted conversations teachers can better meet the needs of individual students and help to support their growth as readers. While conducting this research one thing I wondered about was the best systems to keep track of data and notes about reading conferences. In my next post, I want to explore, “What are effective strategies for data collection and recording information from reading conferences?” 

Resources: 

Serravallo, J. (2019) A Teacher’s Guide to Reading Conferences Grades K-8. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 

Serravallo, J. (2014, October 30). Research-Decide-Teach Conference. [Video File] Retrieved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g9vk07JkFs&t=9s

Routman, R. (2003) The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading. New York: Scholastic