It's important to us to be aware of each child's writing growth as they progress through the year. Knowing what a child is attempting, experimenting with, and mastering helps us plan appropriate instruction. Understanding what they are writing helps us build on children's needs and celebrate their strengths.

We often write reflections in one-page memos, or hand-write our recollections and ideas after class in our teaching journals. But in class, we have four basic strategies for keeping track of children's writing progress:

Teacher's Writing Conference Notebooks. These five booklets are small and easily portable. Each booklet has five sections to record conference notes with five different children (see example).

Teacher's Conference Notebooks - include tabs with sections for five children; designed so that any adult conferring with a child can write observations in the notebook.

Any adult who is in the class during writing workshop time uses these booklets to record what the child was writing or drawing and the conversation that made up the conference. It is important to capture the child's explanation of his or her work, and to do so in their own words as much as possible. We also include reminders of what to revisit and reconsider. These portable notebooks allow the classroom teacher a window into the conference, whether she was sitting there during it or not.

Kindergarten Conversations. The writing conference booklets are new this year. In the past, we have also had success with a page attached to the end of the children's writing journals.

Kindergarten Conversation Sheets - stapled in each child's writing folder, these enable any adult conferring with the child to note and date topics covered in the conference.

The data we collected on these sheets was for a slightly different purpose; it was to help set a predictable structure for the writing conference for both adults and children. It also provided an ongoing record of the child's process and planning. Each sheet has columns for the date and for children's responses to two questions: What's the story about? and What's next?

The teacher or aide who confers with the child then initials the entry. Stapled to the sheet is an alphabet list, so that the adult can check off letters the child is using in his or her writing journal. We found these sheets useful for quick conferences and noting patterns in children's topics, as well as a quick way to check on the letters they were using in context. But it was often distracting to flip to the back of the children's journals to record the information in conference, and we wanted more complete records. We have found that some teachers really like this method as a quick check - and a way to work with other adults in the classroom.

Student Writing Folders. Within each writing folder are at least two things: a writing journal and an ABC chart (see sample).

ABC Chart - used to note the child's attempt at new letters, and when they receive direct instruction for any letter.

The writing journal is a place for students to record their writing and drawing. Students might write on one page per day - or six; it depends on the author and the content they are producing that day. Students also know that when they fill their journals, they can get another one and just keep working.

The alphabet sheets are used solely to document students' letter and sound usage. On these sheets, we can record the letters the child uses in the context of his or her writing. We also make note of any letters we may have taught the child. All letters taught in conference are based on a student's readiness, need - and usually, request (see sample).

Kyle's ABC Chart - any letter attempted by the child has a box drawn around it; any letter that the teacher taught the child has a check mark within the box.

We learned this particular strategy from the Fairfax County teachers featured on the Ralph Fletcher/JoAnn Portalupi video series When Students Write, available from Stenhouse Publishers.

Writing Sample Use. The writing folders themselves are a rich collection of data that can demonstrate a child's writing growth. Primarily, the information guides the teacher in knowing what writing strategies to teach next. One additional way we use the actual samples evolved when we were collecting writing with jotted notes to share with parents at parent-teacher conferences.

Kyle's Writing Sample with Sticky Note - the sticky note includes the words Kyle used to describe his drawing. These writing samples with the teacher's notes are especially useful for young children who draw rather than write during much of writing workshop.

Rather than tear the pages out of the children's journals, we decided to photocopy them and attach sticky notes that describe the children's words about their work. This provides added information because the actual sample is available to examine and discuss with others. During writing workshop, it is easy for a teacher to carry around a stack of sticky notes and quickly jot notes on them with the child's name and the date. After class, we photocopy the student samples and attach the sticky notes to them. Besides sharing these samples with parents, we also use them to discuss patterns we are seeing in the class, helping plan instruction.

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This essay is an excerpt from the DVD workshop package Write from the Start: Conferring with Young English Language Learners.