Close Reading

What is Close Reading?

The Common Core State Standards are encouraging teachers to engage their students in the task of close reading, but many of us are not quite sure what that is.

–It is an interaction between the reader and the text.  (Douglas Fisher “Close Reading the the Common Core State Standards” April 3, 2012)

–It is about making careful observations of text and then interpretations of these observations. (Patricia Kain, Writing Center of Harvard University, 1998)

–It involves rereading; often rereading short portioin of a text that helps a reader to carry new ideas to the whole text. (Kylene Beers and Robert Probst, Notice and Note, 2012)

Close reading requires rereading a text three times for increased levels of understanding.  Each reading, during a close read, has a new purpose and after completing it the reader has a new depth of understanding.   Typically a close read asks for three readings of a selected text. 

http://writenow21st.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-process-of-close-reading.html

1^st Read:  Get the Gist

During your first read, readers are looking for basic understanding of what the text was about—a main idea, a brief summary, asking questions about what was read. 

2^nd Read: Dig a Little Deeper

The second read is meant to increase and expand upon your students’ basic understanding of the text.   Before you begin reading you should set the purpose for this read.  The purpose can range from identifying the author’s purpose to noticing text features.  Readers can be asked to notice how a character acts/feels or discuss the words used by the author.

3^rd Read: Put it all Together

In the third read, our goal is for reader to take their understanding of the text from the first and second read and apply it to their existing knowledge to draw new conclusions.    You can ask readers questions about text patters, similarities between this book and another book, inferences and/or connections made.

Now that you know what Close Reading is, how do you make it a successful experience for your students?

First, you should practice this strategy WHOLE group, several times.  Use the same book for different purposes as suggested in the Close Reading steps.  When you begin, pick books that you know well to increase your experience with this new approach. 

Next you will want to take the time to plan your close reading lesson(s).  You should think about how each level of reading will be different.  What will be your focus?

To increase your students’ success with this approach, you will want to provide them with support.  Use bookmarks, hang anchor charts and provide organizers.  For resources, click here.

http://www.mshouser.com/teaching-tips/close-reading-anchor-chart