Conferring with Readers Part 1
Today we had our first Teacher Assistant Workshop. Our topic: Conferring in the Reading Workshop: Learning to Read.
Here are some big ideas we came away with:
~ Reading is a highly complex process. The single most important thing that we can give students is access to a good teacher. We teach our hearts out to make sure that there is no single child left behind.
~ Quality compliments are important: As we are focusing on assessing students through conferring and moving each child forward we realized that our COMPLIMENTS need to be SPECIFIC. For example, rather than giving hollow compliments like “Good job”, or “Well done”, we need to give specific feed back such as “I see you are pointing to each word. That’s a smart move that readers do.” or “You made it make sense and look right. That’s a great reading strategy.”
~ A second big idea was we need to teach multiple strategies for learning to read. Many of us focus on the VISUAL cues (”Sound it out”) which is how the word LOOKS. However there are two other important cues that we use to decode words. They are STRUCTURE, which is whether we can say words that way in our English language. We can ask questions such as, “Can we say it that way?”, “Does that sound right?”, and finally MEANING (isn’t this the main reason we read? To gain meaning from a text?) which can be asked, “Does that make sense?”
~ Finally, we looked at a great resource by Fountas and Pinnell, Prompting Guide. This resource gives simple teaching points, prompts, and reinforcement for specific skills in learning to read, such as; Early Reading Behaviors, Searching For and Using Information, Solving Words, Monitoring and Correcting Errors, and Maintaining Fluency. There is a copy in the Literacy room if you would like to check it out.
Here’s what we know about reading:
- Learners need teachers who demonstrate a love of reading.
- Learners need explicit teaching to develop the skills and strategies necessary for proficient reading.
- Learners need time to read
- Learners need opportunities to read high-interest, accessible books of their own choosing
- Learners need authentic opportunities to interact with texts
- Learners need support to develop at their own level and pace
What do you agree with? What big idea did you take away about reading? What still puzzles you?
Let me start by saying how excited I am to have these sessions with Ms. Toa, only the first day & we’ve learned so much already!
I strongly agree that all teachers in the classroom have the keys to help unlock a student’s full reading potential. I believe that teachers who demonstrate a love of reading will inspire the same in her class.
It really struck me that we should remember to give SINCERE and SPECIFIC compliments to our kids when we read with them.
One of the things that still puzzles me is how we, as TAs, can better support reading conferences that is suited to each particular child (reading at his/her own level). What are some strategies we can use to better assess (student needs) and teach when it’s time to read with them?
Thank you & looking forward to the next ones!
Thanks for your comment Len. The honest and precise feedback is a simple idea but I often forget!
Reading is so complex-there is no simple shortcuts or easy ways! (wouldn’t that be wonderful if there was a formula!)
We will definitely be looking at ways to support the teacher in the classroom, and think about strategies to teach our students.
I agree to the fact that learners need teachers who demonstrate love for reading, there is no better way to influence a child by showing good example. However, what puzzles me is how we can determine the reading level of a child so we can further assist them? do we base it on their year level? I know that as adults we expect children to have better reading skills as they grow up but I have encountered some kids from higher elementary level with the reading skill of a second grader.
Looking forward to a fruitful meeting ahead
Grace, you are right on! Good teachers (and great teaching) are our BEST resources!
A great question about reading levels. We will be discussing that in our meeting tomorrow.
I like the idea of teaching multiple strategies for learning to read. And one of important cues is to gain meaning from a text by asking questions. At the beginning we ask students questions, I.e. ” Does it make sense?” And then students themselves will learn to ask questions when reading. I believe reading with questions is a great way to help kids develop their critical reading and critical thinking skills.
As Sarah said, Prompting Guide is a great resource. After reading through them again, I can’t wait to practice and use these 3-step,Teach-Prompt-Reinforce tools to teach kids to read.
I am wondering what the advantages and disadvantages of e-books and printed books are. Which are more suitable for young kids?
Sarah, thank you for giving us this wonderful workshop to learn. Really appreciate you taking your time to prepare the lesson and help us.
Thanks for the first session. I agree of what Grace said that LEARNERS NEED TEACHERS WHO DEMONSTRATE A LOVE OF READING for the kids the teacher is always the role model, if the teacher will teach them a proper way of reading it will motivate or encourage them to become a good reader.what puzzles me is what if the kids will tell you that oh I’m tired I don’t want to read? of course you will still encourage them to go on for reading( picture walk) but still she/he doesn’t want to, do I need to force her/him? (kindergarten kids)
Ohhhh! I like the question about e-books versus paper. I know there is not a lot of research around about e-books yet.
“Does that make sense?” is a great question. It shows what we value, which is making meaning of reading!
Thanks Shirley
Sarah
Thanks for your comment Rose. Yes, yes YES! Teachers who demonstrate a love of reading!
Great question Rose. We cant force students to do anything, however our job is to teach-there are ways. We will talk more about this!
Sarah
That was a great first meeting. Thank you for taking the time to create a short but intensive course in reading workshop for us TAs. For homeroom TAs, we do reading workshops with the kids almost everyday and learning the best way to conferencing with the kids helps them move forward more quickly. I think the hardest part is that we are always assessing. I know there is no easy formula to doing the right assessment but I would like to see all of us TAs learn and develop the skill. I hope we can discuss the SAS way of assessing and the different reading levels of students. How can we help kids find their just right books? It would be really useful to find out about the assessment process teachers do before they assign a reading level to kids.
Thank you for your commitment to teach us and help us to have a confident when we meet our students for their reading time. I like the first session especially I learned about how students themselves can correct their own errors as they read. It is not us who need to correct them but by asking questions to students, they can catch their mistakes and correct by themselves.
I always believe that you can’t force someone to read unless he or she fall in love with reading. How we, as educators, make this happen is critical. Since reading is a life-long habit not just when they are at school. It shapes who they are. So I am really looking forward to learning more about the researched-based methodology about conferring with students.