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Conferences Grouped by Teaching Method
Here we have grouped the conferences by teaching method so that you can more easily study the related conferences as you practice a certain method. Pay attention to how, in each conference, the teacher clearly states what is being taught. The bold type highlights the particular moves the teacher makes, and the text that follows illustrates exactly what the teacher said and did and how the student responded.
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Demonstration
Notice how, in each of these conferences, the teacher clearly states the teaching point and then demonstrates not how the child ought to use the strategy, but how the teacher uses it. Then the teacher goes back to the beginning of the demonstration and helps the child begin trying out the strategy (this often includes a bit of guided practice). To prepare to do this yourself, you might make a list of strategies you are currently teaching and decide how you might demonstrate these strategies in a conference using your own work. The more prepared you are for this kind of conference, the more likely you are to try it out. You may want to make a point of conducting at least two demonstration conferences during each writing workshop until the method becomes second nature.
| AM-1 |
Are You Stuck? |
| AM-3 |
But How Did You Feel in Your Story? |
| NF-1 |
Can I Show You How Writers Find Ideas? |
| WR-2 |
Famous Writers Use Periods to Tell Readers When to Stop. |
| NF-2 |
If There's No Punctuation, When I Read Your Writing, It Sounds Like Gobbledygook. |
| NF-3 |
Make a Mental Movie of Yourself Following Your Directions to See if They're Clear. |
| CR-7 |
Make Sure That You Are Adding Those Words for a Reason! |
| SM-6 |
Nothing Happens in My Life. |
| WR-8 |
Reread as You Write, Noticing White Spaces and Spelling. |
| PO-6 |
What Is the Most Important Feeling in Your Poem, Klara? |
| NF-5 |
What Will You Write in Your Table of Contents? |
| LW-5 |
What's the Story in This Picture, Song Lee? |
| NF-6 |
Where Is Your Author's Voice? |
| PO-8 |
Where Is Your Writing, Marko? |
| SM-8 |
Will You Touch Each Page and Say What You'll Write? |
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Explicitly Tell and Example
This method is often paired with guided practice. Notice how the teacher clearly tells the student what will be taught and then illustrates the explanation with a relevant example that will make immediate sense to the child. You may want to make a list of strategies you are currently teaching and then write down some possible explanation-and-example scenarios so that you are ready to try the method out without having to come up with these ideas spontaneously as you sit down to confer.
| CR-2 |
Are You Doing Revision Work That Makes Important Changes? |
| AM-2 |
Are You Sure You Are Done Writing? |
| SM-3 |
Can I Show You How to Write What Happened First, Then Next, Talia? |
| PO-4 |
Can You Think of One Moment That Holds the Big Feeling the Ocean Gives You? |
| NF-4 |
What Are You Teaching Your Readers? |
| AM-7 |
What Is the Most Important Part of Your Story, Marley? |
| LW-2 |
What's Happening in Your Piece? |
| LW-8 |
Where Is Your Writing, George? |
| LW-7 |
Reread as You Write, Noticing White Spaces and Spelling. |
| LW-10 |
Writers Share Community Supplies. |
| AM-6 |
You Can Use Ellipses to Show Waiting. |
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Guided Practice
This is the method we use most often in the Primary writing workshop. Here we have selected ten conferences for you to study, but study of the others that depict our use of this method will serve you equally well. Pay attention to how the teacher states a teaching point, helps the student get started, and then gradually lessens support as the student practices the new strategy or idea. Notice exactly what the teacher says. Improving your guided practice conferences requires frequent practice. You might have a colleague listen to you and talk to you about what he noticed; setting up a strong scaffold and gradually withdrawing it is tricky.
| CR-1 |
Are ALL of Your Words Important to Your Story? |
| AM-1 |
Are You Stuck? |
| SM-1 |
As a Reader, I'd Love to Hear More About That Sophie. |
| PO-2 |
Can I Help You Come Up With Ideas? |
| WR-1 |
Can You Tell a Story and Show It on the Paper? |
| LW-1 |
Let Me Show You How to Write More. |
| WR-8 |
Reread as You Write, Noticing White Spaces and Spelling. |
| NF-4 |
What Are You Teaching Your Readers? |
| LW-3 |
What's the Story in This Picture, Bryanna? |
| SM-9 |
Writers Make Time to Write Words. |
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Inquiry
We rely on this method very rarely with primary-age writers. We've found that teaching the inquiry process in a quick writing conference often takes up the whole time. The other methods seem to leave more room for the child to learn the lesson or strategy. This CD-ROM does not contain any conferences for primary-age writers based on the inquiry method of teaching.
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