Reading Projects Reimagined: Student-Driven Conferences to Deepen Critical Thinking

Veteran teacher and author Dan Feigelson raises an important question about the larger goal of reading instruction:  while it’s our job as reading teachers to introduce students to new ideas and comprehension strategies, shouldn’t we also teach them to come up with their own ideas - without teacher prompting?  In Reading Projects Reimagined, Feigelson shows us how conference-based, individual reading projects help students learn how to think for themselves.  He provides a concrete picture of what reading projects look and sound like in the classroom with:

• step-by-step guidelines on how to conduct a productive conference
• categories to help teachers narrow down possible directions a conference could go
• examples of student work and teacher-student dialogue.

When readers go beyond simple comprehension questions to extend their own ideas, they’re on their way to becoming independent, critical thinkers who can read any text with depth and thoughtfulness.

Praise for Reading Projects Reimagined:

“Dan Feigelson is one of our shrewdest and most versatile thinkers in the field of literacy, a guy who can draw from his experiences as classroom teacher, staff developer, principal, and superintendent. In this fascinating book, Dan gives a new vision for the reading conference in which teachers can help students name their own ideas, and use them as tools for deeper comprehension.”Ralph Fletcher

“This book contains some of the best writing about conferring with children that I’ve read.” Carl Anderson

If you have ever wondered how to bring more substance, more gravitas, to reading conferences, this book will provide you with an array of possibilities. Dan Feigelson is absolutely clear that he is not offering a set of scripts for conferences; instead he shows us how to help each child develop a sense of the possible.”Ellin Keene

“In Reading Projects Reimagined, Dan Feigelson reminds us of a radical and grounding premise, that a truly effective reading conference, one that can change a reading life, prioritizes the reader, not the standards or test prep. Dan shows us how to shine a light on children's words and intentions in ways that can increase their engagement with texts and inspire investment in their own text-based ideas.” Kathy Collins

Dan Feigelson has worked extensively in New York City schools as a teacher, staff developer, curriculum writer, principal, and local superintendent. An early member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, he has led institutes, workshops and lab-sites around the world on the teaching of reading and writing. A regular presenter at national conferences, Dan is the author of Reading Projects Reimagined: Student-Driven Conferences to Deepen Critical Thinking, and Practical Punctuation: Lessons in Rule Making and Rule Breaking in Elementary Writing. He lives in Harlem and Columbia County, New York.

Follow Dan on Twitter @danfeigelson.