When it comes to increasing student motivation and success in writing, classroom talk is a powerful tool, from helping students discover writing topics to developing language to reflect on the writing process. This timely book is packed with examples and stories to help educators make conferences more manageable and meaningful. Organized by types of conferences, the book distinguishes between teacher-student talk — which covers one-on-one, small-group, and whole-class conferences — and student-student talk — which includes one-on-one and group peer conferences. In addition to discussing the needs and challenges of educators in the elementary and middle school grades, the book also addresses how to work with English language learners.