A great reading conference only takes five minutes, but its impact can last a lifetime. That is because conferences are the critical, one-to-one teaching that forms the backbone of reading instruction. This book shows teachers how to confer well and demonstrates why a few moments with students every week can put them on the path to becoming better, more independent readers. The book is a comprehensive guide that shows teachers how to determine what readers have learned and what they need to practice, then provides suggestions for targeting instruction to meet students' needs. It provides explicit teaching methods for use in effective conferences. Readers will learn how to research a student's use of skills through questions and observations; compliment to support and build upon successes; follow up on prior instruction for accountability and depth of understanding; explain a reading strategy by providing an explicit purpose and context; model the strategy to make the invisible brainwork of reading more visible; guide a reader in practicing the strategy; and link the strategy to independent reading. The book presents repeatable frameworks for conferences that focus on six specific purposes of reading instruction: (1) matching students to just-right books; (2) reinforcing students' strengths; (3) supporting students during whole-class studies; (4) helping students move from one reading level to the next; (5) holding students accountable for previous learning; and (6) deepening students' conversations about books in order to deepen their thinking. Each purpose is bolstered by an appendix of conference transcripts that support teaching. The book also includes ideas for planning instruction, keeping records of conferences, and even conducting group sessions. The book contains the following chapters: (1) What It Means to Be a Reader; (2) What It Means to Teach Reading; (3) Getting Ready: Management and Structures; (4) Matching Students to Just-Right Books; (5) Reinforcing Students' Strengths: Compliment Conferences; (6) Supporting Students During Whole-Class Studies; (7) Helping Students Move from Reading Level to Level; (8) Holding Students Accountable for Previous Teaching; (9) Improving Student Conversations about Books; (10) Planning for What to Teach and How to Teach It; (11) Working Efficiently: Group Conferring; and (12) Keeping Records. Appended is: (1) Conference Transcripts.