Improving reading comprehension: Questions to ask during individual conferences

Here are some reading conferencing questions that you can ask your students to check in and assess their independent reading progress and comprehension:

What is the book about?

What are you thinking as you read this book?

Who is the main character and what does he/she/they want or need?

What is the life message or theme of the book?

What is your favorite line or part of the book?

What do you notice about the writing craft of this book?

What interests you about this book?

Why did you pick this book to read?

What does the cover or title have to do with the book?

What have you learned from reading this book?

If you were transported to the setting of this book, where would you be? Describe it to me.

Would you act like the main character in the book or do what the main character does, or make the same choices?

When and where does the story take place? Why is this important? How would you live if you were in the same setting and what would your life be like? 


What challenges are you encounter while reading this book—difficulties with names, customs, cultural issues, provocative situations, profanity, violence, lifestyle issues? 


Introduce the characters to me. Who are they? Where is the novel set (time, location)? What is going on in the characters’ lives and in the world around them? 


Encourage students to cite specific moments in the text that trouble them and explain what they do not like about the author’s decision to include such language, situations, and actions.