Reading Small Group Summary and Reflection For my small group activity I completed eight reading conferences, the

first four were directly supervised by the cooperating teacher and or the talented and gifted teacher, the last four were done by myself alone. The reading program the teacher had in place in her classroom allotted 4 ! " minutes of independent reading. #uring the independent reading the cooperating teacher and the talented and gifted teacher$ my class was academically gifted ability clustered$ would do individual conferences with different students. They %ept a log and notes on each conference with each individual student. &See attached photos'. The conferencing was used to challenge the students to higher level thin%ing, understanding, and comprehension of the material they read. The (uestions were posed to have the students go into details about the te)t they were reading independently. I observed several conferences the teachers conducted before doing them supervised and on my own. Students were pulled to conference at tables with the teachers at opposite sides of the room. The student would bring the boo% they are currently reading independently. #uring the conference the students were as%ed specific critical thin%ing (uestions, either directly related to lessons or mini lessons with direct ob*ectives the teacher had taught, or (uestions that encourage greater thin%ing for better comprehension of the boo% they are reading and developing reading s%ills. The purpose of the conferences is to chec% students understanding and ability to apply concepts and ob*ectives being taught, as well as increase critical analysis of te)t they encounter everyday. +ach conference lasted for 4!, minutes. The teachers ended each conference with a goal or ob*ective for the ne)t conference which was at least once a wee%. The teachers as%ed their own (uestions based on lessons taught or ob*ectives they want to monitor, or following a program called S+-!R (uestion stems for advanced and critical thin%ing and (uestioning.

Students would respond to the (uestion by answering in detail verbally. Typically each student would be as%ed to give a general summary of their boo% to begin the conference. Then the teacher would as% the specific (uestion. Students. answers had to be detailed and well thought out. If a student tried to give a generic or /dull0 response the teacher would politely remind them that they were bright and needed to give /bright0 responses, a sign to give more information and details. The teachers used conferencing for data recording, trac%ing, ob*ective assessment, and increased comprehension monitoring.

Reflection 1uestions
What do you think your students learned as a result of this activity? Students that needed additional instruction or e)planation on new reading concepts were given that during their conference. It allowed one on one instruction time with the teacher. 2lso students learned to thin% deeper into the te)ts they encounter everyday now and in the future. Students also are more prepared to analy3e te)t they encounter for testing purpose for school. Their progress is being monitored too so the teacher can better facilitate individual needs. -y conferences specifically dealt with students understanding of character traits and how they can change throughout a story or te)t based on %ey events. -y (uestions were used to determine understanding of character traits, understanding of using support from te)t to determine character traits, and comparing the traits before and after the events in a te)t. The students I conferred with seem to really be able to ma%e connections to their te)t and something in their life, or something they had read previously, or learned about and were using those connections to develop better understanding of new te)ts. They used the connections and understanding to e)plain character changes and compare them using inference and literal e)amples from the te)t. What evidence do you have of your students learning? There is a log and trac%ing sheet for each student that the have and maintain specific notes on each student and assess their mastery of goals and ob*ectives. +ach student is given a goal or ob*ective to wor% on between conferences, then the teacher assesses the mastery at the beginning of the ne)t conference. +)ample would be one student was challenged to determine how events of the story changed the character perspectives on life4 The ne)t conference started with the teacher as%ing the student to answer the ob*ective (uestion from the last conference. 2lso during one of my conferences independently, followed my lesson on comparing character changes using inferences. I as%ed the student if they were able to use inferences to see how the character in their boo% changed from one point to another. They were able to respond to me with specific details from the boo% and the specific event that caused the change in the character, and how the character changed because of that event. It was obvious during my conference they had mastered the understanding and application of the concept taught during my lesson. Name at least 1 aspect of the activity that was successful. What caused it to be successful? The conferencing where I was able to assess their mastery of specific ob*ectives and see them apply it to other te)ts they are reading independently was definitely a success. It was successful because they had ta%en in what was taught to them in a whole group lesson practiced it independently and learned to apply it to any te)t they encounter. 2lso the students were familiar with the setting of conferencing the cooperating teacher established an e)pectation since the beginning of the school year on how conference time would go. 5onferencing is successful because of the type of (uestions we as the teachers choose to as%, but more than that is the classroom community. The teacher.s hard wor% developing the classroom community where the other students not being conference with were silent and respectful of the students that were conferencing with the teachers. The students %new if they interrupted any of the three of us teachers during conferencing that it should be for an emergency. The teacher had the community set up where they %new what the e)pectations was of them, as well as the conse(uences of what would happen if they did not follow or meet the e)pectations. 6ever during observations or independent conferencing did a student interrupt a conference. That was a huge part in the success of the conferences. Name at least 1 aspect of the activity that was less successful. What caused it to be less

successful? I feel as though I relied too heavily on the (uestions I favored out of the stems provided and did not branch out and ta%e advantage of the multitude of (uestions available. I also reali3ed that I was not as%ing challenging enough (uestions especially for the academically gifted students. I had to chec% myself on time fre(uently. +specially at the beginning my conferences were going close to ten minutes, way over the usual 4!, minutes that they should last. I also was writing e)tensive notes that were not necessary instead of writing the %ey points and highlights. It was definitely a learning e)perience. What changes might make this learning activity more successful? Why might these changes help improve the activity? I thin% that conferencing improved when I managed my time better and shorted conferences to the standard 4!, minutes. The students. attention was maintained and I was more effective at seeing more students. I thin% that the cooperating teacher and the talented and gifted teacher should use the same conference note sheet so that students compiled wor% whether they conference with either of the teachers would be the same, but the system seems to wor% for them as is. I thin% that if the teachers focus on having students display the understanding and application mastery of the specific ob*ects they teach assessed during conferencing on a higher level would be an improvement too. The students are successful with conferences and seem to en*oy the one on one time to wor% with the teacher. 7verall I thin% they are successful as is with possible minor improvements.