5-Minute Writing Conferences with Students

Working with an entire class of writers means setting up writing conferences to allow them to share their writing in a meaningful way that you can assess. It also allows you to provide feedback. This may also be used with adult writers you work with on their works.

But how can that be accomplished in a timely manner? Here’s one idea.

1. Provide a writing rubric for the students to fill out prior to conferencing with you.
2. Provide a reflection paper for the students to fill out prior to your conferencing.
3. Pre-read their work and record your notes on a separate paper. ( I suggest using a copy of the rubric AND a checklist of other skills you want to observe in their work.)

OK, So this takes more that 5 minutes, BUT it sets up the writer to know and share information about themselves which will help guide the actual conference.

The actual conference is targeted at :

• sitting down together
• looking over the paper as it relates to the rubric
• sharing the writer’s reflection
• discussing specific parts of the work and looking at suggestions to strengthen it.

True, you do not share reading the entire writing aloud (which is a great tool to discover flow issues and expose fabulous images, etc) but it’s a quick way to share views on the success of the writing in a meaningful way.

This tool would not be good to use on a huge project or on a final grading of work since it is one-step removed from hearing the writer read the work aloud.