Free from Cue Learning
How can teachers effectively understand where students are at in their literacy development?
There’s testing and running records, which have benefits and limitations, and the Reading Conference, which is a powerful process when done the right way.
This is the art of conferring with kids, which is easier said than done. So how do we plan for a highly effective Reading Conference and what tools do we need?
Start by asking: What is conferring?
The Reading Conference is an assessment for teaching and learning. It’s for turning learning into actions for students (Transformative Tracking). The teacher tries to learn as much as they can about the students, including:
- Reading interests
- Reading processes (monitoring strategies and cueing systems)
- Reading comprehension
- Reading fluency
- Reading vocabulary
- Decoding knowledge
The teacher:
- Learns what makes the student a reader
- Helps them move forward into a range of reading texts
- Uses it as an intentional part of their Independent Reading
- Uses it to inform teaching, especially Mini Lessons
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