Conferencing

Conferencing With Students
Conferencing with students is a vital part of the writer's workshop. This is when students really work at applying their writing skills, and develop a personal understanding about how they can become an outstanding writer!

Questions that get at Ideas

 * 1) What do you see as the main idea?
 * 2) What is your "truism" or universal truth?
 * 3) Can this topic be covered in one paper? Is the topic too big for one paper?
 * 4) What is the one thing you want your reader to learn from your writing?
 * 5) Would you like to know what I pictured in my mind as you were reading your writing?
 * 6) As a reader/listener, here is the main thing I learned from your paper....
 * 7) I am still unclear about ______________.
 * 8) I would really like to know more about....
 * 9) How is your idea unique from others?
 * 10) How does this ... relate to the topic?
 * 11) What does this part add to your paper?
 * 12) Let's look at some mentor texts for examples.

Questions about Organization

 * 1) Why did you begin where you did?
 * 2) How are you arranging your writing, what is its purpose?
 * 3) How does the arrangement of your writing support your main idea?
 * 4) How did you decide how to paragraph?
 * 5) What is the turning point or most impiortant moment in your peice?
 * 6) Is there a kernal essay that can help you get started?
 * 7) Let's look at the flow that your transitions create...
 * 8) Let's look at some mentor texts for examples.
 * 9) Do you have a topic?
 * 10) How are you planning to begin? Let's look through your notebook for some ideas.
 * 11) Does the ending drive home your main point?
 * 12) Is the ending strong?
 * 13) Does the piece feel finished?
 * 14) Does the ending need to relate back to the beginning?

Questions for Voice

 * 1) How would you desribe your voice in this piece?
 * 2) What is your tone?
 * 3) Who do you see as your main audience? Who do you picture listening to it or reading it?
 * 4) What would you like your reader to feel?
 * 5) Here is the part in your writing where I really hear your voice, do you agree? Why?
 * 6) Are there "throwaway" words that are clouding your voice?
 * 7) Does your dialogue sound the way people really talk?
 * 8) If you read this aloud, would it sound like something you would say?

Questions for Word Choice

 * 1) Do you have favorite words or expressions in this piece? What are they?
 * 2) Are there words you used for the first time? Which ones?
 * 3) Did you use a dictionary or the thesaurus?
 * 4) Are your words specific enough? Can we change some words with more specific ones?
 * 5) Here are some words that caught my ear....
 * 6) Let's look at your verbs, are they strong?
 * 7) Are there places where your writing paints a picture?
 * 8) Have you taken risks?

Questions for Sentence Fluency

 * 1) When you read your paper aloud, is it easy or difficult? Why?
 * 2) How do your sentences begin, are they similar, or very different? How does it sound to you?
 * 3) Would you like me to read your work to you? How does this sound? Take notes about what you like and don't like.
 * 4) Are your sentences different lengths? Are there places you could change them to make it flow better?
 * 5) Have you used parallel sturctue?

Questions for Conventions

 * 1) Have you already proof read your paper, or had a friend proof read it?
 * 2) Do you have any run on sentences?
 * 3) Have you looked at how you use commas?
 * 4) Where does this sentence need a ...(comma, hyphen, etc...)
 * 5) How do you usually edit your paper, do you have a strategy?
 * 6) What do you refer back to to help you edit? (mini-lesson notes, handouts, etc..)
 * 7) Are all your sentences complete? Are there any fragments?
 * 8) Is your dialogue punctuated correctly?
 * 9) Let's look at some examples..