Informal Reading Conferences

I was very interested in the informal reading conferences discussion of the Routman book. In my main placement, I have spent a lot of time one-on-one with the students (4th grade) as they read aloud. My main focus has been on fluency. I have not been doing formal running records (when I started doing this in September, I didn't even know what a running record was). So, although I knew I was helping the students with their understanding, and I could listen for their fluency, I had no basis for real assessment. I often ended up focusing on vocabulary - and would end the session giving the child a piece of paper on which I had written two or three words that we discussed the meaning of during the reading. Although this was a good area to look at, I didn't really know how to begin to assess or talk about comprehension. The questions provided in Chapter 7 would let these informal conferences have a more purposeful assessment and goal setting. These could then be used in the future to document improvement. I wonder though, why the students in the 'upper grades' (defined as above 2nd grade) would read silently? Would it not be more beneficial to also do a quick running record during this time?

As for connections to the reading analysis and lesson, I can see how the informal assessment really tries to get a deeper look at the student's comprehension. The goals for reading as listed on page 106 give a great list of areas where we could focus the lesson. I really liked this list of goals (and the idea of just having it with you during the conference) to see a variety of areas that the student's learning could be focused.