Reading & Writing Conferring Notebooks

Reading & Writing Conferring Notebooks

Goal: Document reading and writing conferences with students.

I'm good at getting started, but when it's time to show my documentation or record it in our district's computer system, I have to scramble to gather all of my notes.

I've tried binders, clipboards, notebooks...

I hate carrying all of those big, bulky things around.

I have a new addiction: Pinterest. I kept seeing a picture of an ABC book made out of plastic index card tabs. I have no idea where it originated, but the other night, I had an a-ha. What if I made a similar book, but for recording reading and writing conferences?

I found the 3 x 5 plastic ABC index tabs in the school supply section of Walmart. I picked up binder rings, 3 x 5 index cards, and scrapbooking stickers. The tricky part is hole punching through the plastic. If you have strong hands, a lot of time, and can handle pain -then by all means, use a hand held hole puncher. My hands still hurt from the attempt. I have a three ring hole punch. I spent some time with index cards getting it lined up just right. When I had it the way I wanted it, I drew lines on my hole puncher with a marker. I used the lines to line up the plastic tabs. I found that I could only punch tabs at a time. Next, I punched index cards. I put the cards through the rings, decorated the front tab, and now I have a beautiful conference notebook.

I love this because A) I can create a card for each student and place them in the book in ABC order; B) I can flip to the student's card, add a new card when the original card is full, and easily carry my notebook around the classroom with me; C) I can hang my notebooks on hooks so that they don't get lost under a stack of papers!

What will I put on the cards?

At the top of each card I will put the student's name (last, first), reading levels, and testing information. I will date each entry at the beginning of the lines and write shorthand notes about my conferences. I made a notebook for both reading and writing. I am excited about my conferring notebooks, and I can't wait to use them in my classroom this year!

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