Part of the English block in a classroom is taking the time to listen to and guide students as they read. As educators it is important that we record observations about student fluency, accuracy, comprehension and use of strategies in order to determine where they are and what needs to be further developed moving forward. There are a range of ways this can be achieved, including physical paper recording sheets or digital recording sheets. 

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Here is an example of the format I am using this year to record reading group conferences. This template was inspired by ell.educates on Instagram. 

This resource allows you to identify the specific focus for a particular student, record observational notes about a students' reading and identify a future learning goal. There are two templates in this resource - a group template and an individual student template. 

reading_group_conferences_-_alice_vigors_2020.pdf
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The role of questioning during a reading conference

A reading conference should be dialogic in nature, where both the teacher and the student can ask questions, make comments and share thinking. Teacher questioning is an integral part of the reading conference. However, it should not dominate it. The teacher needs to make conversation moves to guide the student to articulate the meaning they have made about the text, and discuss the current and future goal for reading (State Government of Victoria, 2019). 

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Comprehension on 3 levels
It is important when reading with a student that they can demonstrate comprehension on a number of levels, including literal, inferential and evaluative.

• A literal question directly from the text. 
  
• An inferential question such as:
  
  • Why do you think……..?
    
  • What is the relationship between…….?
    
  • Can you explain why……..?
•  An evaluative question such as:
  
  • Do you agree with……….?
    
  • If you were….what would you……?
    
  • What is your opinion of ………..?

Other questions to ask during a reading conference

• Can you tell me what you are reading?
• What type of text is this?
• Can you tell me about the text so far?
• What are the main ideas/themes
• What do you think will happen next?
• What is your current reading goal?
• How has this text helped you practice your goal?
• Have you written any notes or reflections about your goal that you'd like to share?
• I noticed you ........................................ when reading.
• Can you try ............................................. ?
• Your reading sounded .............................................
• It is important to .............................................
• What do you feel confident about when reading?
• What do you think you need more practice with/on?
• What is your new goal?
• How long will you need to practice this goal?
• Can we set a date for your next conference?
• Can you write your new goal and what you need to do to achieve this goal in your notebook?

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Reference
State Government of Victoria (2019) Literacy Teaching Toolkit: Reading Conferences. Retrieved from: ​https://bit.ly/2RdmkZ2