Lynette Richau Blog Post 4 Conferencing

Conferencing with my kindergarteners is a little different than with my older students.  Due to severe language delays we are still working on letter recognition and their sound relationships.  I use a checklist to monitor their alphabet recognition both upper and lower case letters as well as sound recognition.  This helps me to know what they have mastered and what we still need to work on.  While they are not reading yet they do love to be read to.  I have learned so about them as readers by observing them during independent reading.  They hold the book appropriately and read the pictures so well!  They even use inflection in their voices!  They have a great love for reading already and that really excites me!  Now I just need to give them the language they need to progress! 

Reading conferences help me to really get to know my students individually as readers.  I am able to listen to them read and ask questions about their reading.  This intimate time-shared enables me to praise student’s strengths and discuss areas that need to be focused on for growth.  We discuss what they are doing well and set goals to work on to improve their reading.  We also discuss how the goal(s) will help them to become a better reader.  DM is working on fluency and comprehension and his strengths are sight words and reading rate.  YV is working on building her sight word vocabulary and comprehension and strengths are using picture clues to figure out words and meaning.  JT is working on vocabulary and sounding out words and his strength is rereading.  TG is working on vocabulary and comprehension and his strengths are tracking words and using picture clues.  

I really enjoy talking with them and listening to what they have to say about their reading, questions they might have, understandings and connections.  Reading conferences really help me to be able to differentiate my instruction and meet each one of my students' specific needs.  I know what sight/vocabulary words they are lacking so that becomes the next spelling/vocabulary lesson.  I have two students that constantly omit or add words when they are reading and another that looks at only the beginning sound and puts words in his reading that don't even make sense.  So there I have my next mini lessons and strategies that I need to focus on.  I love this time with my students and so do they!!