Close Reading
Close reading is
a habit of mind. You do it when a text is difficult. Close reading occurs when students spend time with a text. This occurs through re-reading
Kelly Gallagher's Deeper Reading:
Step 1: Frame the text - Focus the reader - Build background knowledge Step 2: First Draft Reading - What does it say? Step 3: Dig Deeper - What does it mean?
Step 1: Focusing the Reader
- Engage, frame the text, build background knowledge o Alpha-boxes o Journaling and quick writes o Word splash o Tea party o Possible sentences o Written discussion
Text-Based Questions:
- Must USE THE TEXT to answer the question - Some examples of NON-Text-based questions: o Write about a time when you felt sad like the character o In the book, carl's friends help him. If you were his friend, would you have helped him? Why or why not? o In Each Kindness, we learn that kindness has ripples that impact others. Write about why kindness is so important.
Second Draft Reading:
- What does it mean? Why does it matter? o Digging deeper - Strategies: o Multi-layered Timeline (what happened? Questions that arise, predictions/evidence cited) o What it says/what it means chart o QARs o Double-Entry Journals o Discussion & Collaboration
First Draft Reading:
- What does the text say? - Strategies: o Text coding and commenting o Sticky notes o Double-entry journals o Graphic organizers
Reading-Writing Connection
- Writing and reading bear a reciprocal relationship to each other and should be taught simultaneously through integrated literacy lessons. - The learning of reading and writing are connected to one another and each influences the development of the other - Even though writing was not a critical element of reading instruction identified by the NRP, research has consistently suggested that writing should be an integral part of literacy instruction intended to prevent reading difficulties
What is a close reading?
A goal, not a teaching strategy "intensive analysis of a text in order to come to terms with what it says, how it says it, and what it means." "Readers need to think about: What does the text say? What does it mean? What does it matter?"
Literature Circles
a student centered reading activity in which each member of the group is assigned a role as the group discusses what they have read - Discussion director - Connector - Illuminator - Artist - Character captain
4 levels of a close reading
level 1: code breaker, understanding the text at the surface level level 2: meaning maker, comprehending the text at the level intended by the author level 3: text user, analyzing the factors that influence the author and the text, including a historical grounding of the context within which it was written level 4: text critic, understanding that the text is not neutral and that existing biases inform calls to action
Tennessee ELA Academic Standards:
• Determine central ideas of texts, unpack the development of the ideas, and summarize key aspects of a text to show the relationship between the details and the central ideas • Analyze how and why ideas, events, and characters develop and interact over the course of a single text • Interpret the explicit and subtle uses of language to shape meaning • Analyze how form and structure contribute to meaning-making • Assess how point of view, perspective, and purpose impact the development of a text • Evaluate arguments and trace the key points • Analyze ideas across texts and time
Tips:
• Use short texts (or excerpts from longer texts) • Use high-quality texts worthy of re-reading • Integrate strategies and discussion • Model new strategies for students • Use text-dependent questions • Have students cite evidence • Use text-based writing activities
