In my last blog post we tackled how to use data to inform one type of small group reading instruction called guided reading. In this blog post I want to talk about how that same data can be used to drive reading conferences or strategy groups.
Conferring Defined:
Conferring is a chance to huddle up with students and have intentional conversations about what they are reading, how it’s going and how to move them forward. This gives students an opportunity to practice the skills and adds an accountability piece of meeting with you and checking in on them.
How do I do it?
You Can meet with students one on one or group students that need help with the same strategy and work with a small group together. Plan who you will meet with and the purpose of your conference. These conversations should be no more than 5 to 10 minutes each depending on the number of students you are meeting with.
When do I do it?
Conferring should happen concurrent to independent reading time. Choose your own adventure:
Meet with small groups 1st then confer with students.
Confer with individual students then meet with small groups.
The choices you make will depend on your class and what their immediate needs are.
How do I start?
Start individual conferences with a compliment conference in order to build rapport with your students. Then move into an assessment conference so that you can tailor your instruction to your students needs. After that you can move into two into a goal setting conference where you and the student identify a goal that the student needs/wants to work on. The final type of conference is a coaching conference where you are coaching a student through a previously taught strategy. These types of groups are typically used in upper grades and in or with on or above level students in lower grades.
You can also start conferring by grouping students based on data from your running records. Do this by determining whether a small group of students or most of your students struggled with a particular task during your running record or IRI. If only a small group of students struggled with a particular task you may want to group students according to that strategy need, using student selected text.In other words using a book that the student is already reading.
The format is similar to guided reading in that you will still employ the before reading, during reading and after reading approach, but you will not be using a leveled text.
Example 1- Student Selected Text
Before reading: The teacher models strategy that students need to work on i.e. chunking text to improve fluency
During reading: Students practice the strategy while using their own text while the teacher confers with students and gives individualized coaching and reteaching.
After reading: Teacher recaps strategy and students share out how the strategy worked or didn’t work for them.
The advantage to this type of small group is that the teacher does not have to try to secure leveled text for students. The teacher can just identify what the students need most and teach that then confer and see how it’s going.
When I used this approach with my intervention group last year it also allowed me to see if students were really in fact reading good fit books. It also allowed me to see how and if students were monitoring their own comprehension. I also got to see if the strategy that I taught that group was in fact the right strategy for each individual student as I conferred with each one.
Example 2- Teacher selected text (not leveled)
Before reading: The teacher models strategy that students need to work on i.e. chunking text to improve fluency.
During reading: Students practice the strategy while using a teacher selected text that lends itself to the strategy that they are modeling. The teacher confers with students and gives individualized coaching and reteaching.
After reading: Teacher recaps strategy and students share out how the strategy worked or didn’t work for them.
**Then students go back to reading independently using self selected text and apply this strategy or another strategy that they are working on as they read.
What sets this type of small group apart from guided reading is that the text is chosen primarily based on how it best lends itself to the strategy being not and not on whether it is at a certain reading level.
I recommend not having more than six students in your strategy group. Plan for your strategy groups just like you would your guided reading groups. Having a plan will help the strategy portion of your session stay on track. Have a way of tracking what you conferred with students about and any next steps. Be sure that your notes include the title of the book the student is reading as well as what page they’re on and how far they have read by the end of your session. This will help you keep track of what your students are reading and how they are progressing in their text.
Next Steps:
Use your classroom data to inform what strategy groups you need to build for your students. Create a plan for your strategy groups and track their progress using our grouping sheet found in this template. Tag me on social media and let me know how this worked out for you. I would love to cheer you on. If you would like one on one support for click here to book a one on one coaching call with me. Let’s face it if your mini lesson isn’t mini then you’re not going to get to conferring. If you are needing more support for your mini lesson and want a group coaching experience, be sure to sign up for my Mini Lesson Revamp Bootcamp Coaching Program waitlist, you’ll be the first to know when registration opens up again.
