Reading Conferences

The school that I am at has a school wide focus on improving reading comprehension and so we are now doing reading conferences in the classroom using almost the exact same model Routman uses, except my MT has the students read aloud even though they are older. Routman explains that with intermediate students she does not have them read-aloud because most of the reading we do takes place in our heads. Which is true but doesn't reading aloud help students to develop fluency?

I certainly agree with Routman that reading conferences are much more enjoyable than other assessments- (the DRA’s we did in September were pretty dull) and they are really great for me as an intern for getting to know the students better.
What I found to be the most challenging part of the reading conferences was setting reading goals and also evaluating strengths/weaknesses. It is challenging for me to identify exactly what the students needs to work on, and setting goals that they agree with. I will definitely be using Routman’s list next week!

These are some questions I have about comprehension/vocabulary that I encountered during the conferences I completed: What strategies should students use when they cannot infer word meaning from the context? During a conference do I just give them the word? How long do I let them struggle? I hate telling students to “look it up” all the time but should I be doing that?

Invented Spelling

I found Fox's chapters very helpful for understanding how to identify the strategies the students are using and also how to help them improve upon their existing knowledge. As far as invented spelling goes I definitely think it helps more than it hinders. I have seen older kids clam up completely when asked to spell correctly. I think spelling mistakes often keep children from writing. I think in younger grades learning how to spell certain words will develop as their phonemic awareness develops, and as they learn to use resources in the classroom to help. As students get older it is important for them to understand why we sometimes need to do our very best spelling in order to communicate most effectively but in general I don't feel that there needs to be a focus on spelling.

My k-buddy seems to understand letters and sounds pretty well. She makes white space between words and uses both upper and lowercase letters. When unsure of how to spell a word she can easily identify the sound the word starts with. From there she seemed to fill in letters as she felt appropriate according to what sounds were in the word. She would also look around the room for examples she could use to spell words she was unsure of. Overall, I was truly impressed with my k-buddy's skill level! I am equally amazed by how well primary grade teachers can decipher what students are trying to communicate- I am always at a loss :)