Reading Conference Checklist

I’m attaching a revised version of the Reading Conference Checklist I shared with you in September.  A number of RTM teachers have had input into its re-creation.

I’ve been using it, to see what I think, as have a few other teachers, and we’ve all found that it’s a helpful resource, at a variety of grade levels, for guiding and focusing your thinking while listening to children read.

It’s my hope that it can provide you with a framework that helps you to name both what your students are doing, and what they are NOT doing.  It also is VERY quick and simple to use – as not every part of it needs to be filled out each time you meet with a student.  Over time, using has helped me begin to approach my reading conferences differently, keeping an eye out for a wider variety of reading behaviors.

I hope you’ll find it useful, and please let me know if you have suggestions for revision!

Reading Conference Checklist

Test Prep Magic

As PSSA season approaches again, I found a well-written article by Heather Wolpert, offering some helpful hints on getting our kids ready for standardized tests.

Her list included:

1. Practice bubbling (meaning that no task is too small to rehearse with children as they prepare for being comfortable during testing)

2. Teach Them How to Speak Test (making a list of common words associated with test instructions and discussing with students what the authors mean)

3. Stare Your Own  Data in the Face and Model Improvement

4. Show Them the Data and Set Individual Goals

5. Make Confidence-Building Part of Test Prep (including writing “golden lines” to their peers, words of encouragement for success that were taped onto desks)

The full article can be found here:

http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2009/02/25/022509tln_gawron.h20.html?r=1979438887