Conferring

In his years of teacher workshops, author Patrick Allen has heard it all:

“I don’t have time!” “I don’t know what questions to ask!” “I don’t know what to write in my notes, it’s too hard!”

In his book Conferring: The Keystone of Reader’s Workshop, Allen argues that the benefits of conferring outweigh the challenges and that teachers must put forth the effort of learning how to do it well. Inside, he shows teachers how to overcome their perceived obstacles and shows them how they can make conferring tangible.

Conferring lays the groundwork for effective reading instruction. Conferences with students are purposeful conversations that scaffold reading comprehension strategies to guide the reader’s progress. Ultimately, through the gradual release of responsibility, you will create engaged and independent readers. Starting with what conferring isn’t, Allen unpacks the essential components of the process: Intimacy: the social context of conferring, Rigor: the cognitive context of conferring, Inquiry: the analytical context of conferring.

With his guidance, you will be able to set goals for student conferring and elevate student reader conferences from start to finish.