Throughout the month of November I have been focusing on
conferencing with the specific students in my kidwatching focus group. I have
done this in a variety of ways. First, I have met with each of the students as
they read their own books to check on their comprehension and reading fluency
during independent reading time. I love meeting with my students in this
setting because it allows them to feel comfortable and more confident in their
reading abilities since it is a book of their choice and they are able to stay
where they chose to sit during independent reading time. I like to start by
having the student “catch me up” on what they are reading, which is a sneaky
way of checking their summarizing skills and comprehension of the book so far.
Then, I will ask them to read a little bit of their book to me from where they
left off. I take notes as they read if I notice any patterns in their miscues.
Then, I ask the students to retell me what they just read, to check their
comprehension. With my focus group, specifically, I noticed that the students
had a difficult time remembering what they had just read on that page, so I
introduced the “read, cover, remember, retell” strategy to them to try. I also
like to ask the students what they think their reading strengths are. I have
been the most surprised by the answers that they have given me to this
question. Two students said that they have none, which absolutely broke my
heart. So, we brainstormed together and I let them know the strengths that I
see in them as a reader. Then, I made sure to check in with them in subsequent independent
reading times to compliment them on and remind them of their reading strengths.
Other students were able to say right away things like, “I’m a great
sounder-outer”, “I take my time” and more. Knowing how these students viewed
themselves as readers helps me to build on their strengths and help them grow
as readers. Another thing that I like to do in my conferences is to set a small
goal with the student for their reading that we will check in with the next
time we conference. When the students create the goal on their own, I have
noticed that they are more motivated to reach that goal. I have also sat down
with each of these students to complete an IRI passage and answer comprehension
questions. This is more of a formal conference because we meet at the back
table instead of at their desk and the reading material is predetermined. I do
miscue analysis to assess the students’ miscues. Throughout these two types of conferences with
my focus group, I have noticed some similarities among the students in my focus
group. One common skill they struggle with is inferencing. Every student in my
focus group got at least one of the inferencing questions wrong during their
IRI passage questions and often when I ask students to infer in their own books
they can, but when I ask how they got their answer they just say “I don’t know”.
After noticing this, I decided to meet with them as a small group during independent
reading time to do a mini lesson on inferencing. This allowed for them to receive
instruction that was individualized to the skills that they need the most help
with. It also allowed for them to have more practice making inferences and
interacting with the text with their peers. Without conferences I would not
have been able to see the common skill that my focus group struggles with and I
would not know very much about my students as individual readers. Conferencing
allows me to build a reading relationship with my students and it helps to guide
my instruction to meet their needs. After seeing these wonderful effects of
conferencing, I certainly plan on continuing to do this not only with my focus group,
but with my entire class.
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