Teaching Close Reading Resource

I. Close Reading Planning Guide – Resource

II. Completed Exemplar – Supplement

III. References

I. Choose a Text

Several factors affect the complexity of a text, as well as its accessibility and readability for students. Use the questions below to guide your text selection for close reading.

Title/Section/Passage:

Quantitative Measures of Text Complexity

What quantitative information do you have about the complexity of this text? This may include Lexile score, Fry readability score, or other quantitative measures of grade level.

Notes:

Qualitative Elements of Text Complexity

Levels of Meaning Structure Language Clarity Knowledge Demands

To what extent are the ideas To what extent does the Does the text use simpler, To what extent does the text in this text simple, direct, structure and organization of tier 1 vocabulary or more require specialized and explicit? the text support the reader’s formal, academic (tier 2 and background knowledge that To what extent are they comprehension? tier 3) words? How long are may be unfamiliar to abstract or implied? the sentences? students, or distant from their experiences?

Notes:

Relevance and Student Interest Connection to Unit of Study

Based on what I know about my students, how likely are How is this text connected (topically or thematically) to the they to find this text relevant and interesting? current unit of study? Notes:

A close reading lesson should ultimately be driven by a specific purpose, or focus. The focus is the “thing” (or group of things) that you want your students to notice, analyze, discuss, and use to construct meaning. Use the table below to select a focus for the close reading. Also, please make note of the following:

• The focus for a given reading should be narrow (one or two foci). • The focus may shift from one reading to another. • As students reach increasing levels of independence, they may choose their own focus for a reading.

Literary Texts Informational Texts Any Text

Elements of Plot Key ideas Author’s purpose (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) Point of view or argument Word choice (diction) (claims, supporting evidence, logical (use of specific words/phrases, effect Setting (geographical, historical) reasoning) on tone, emotions evoked)

Conflict Rhetorical devices Syntax (man v. man, nature, society, himself) (ethos/pathos/logos, appeals to reason (sentence length and structure, word or emotion, use of story or anecdote, arrangement) Characterization humor) (character’s words, actions, thoughts, Point of view physical appearance, relationships) Use of facts, data, expert quotes (character’s or author’s, what makes it persuasive, level of reliability) Theme Images, charts, graphs (key ideas, issues, messages, irony) Use of repetition Organization (words, ideas, images) Symbols and motifs (headings, sub-headings, captions) Comparisons to other texts Figurative language Concepts and specialized (similarities and differences between (simile, metaphor, personification, vocabulary characters, themes, topics across imagery) (terms and concepts defined by the texts) author) Point of view Inclusion and exclusion (first-person, second-person, third- Author’s bias (whose perspectives are provided and person-limited/omniscient) whose are missing; information not Comparisons given)

Why this Focus?

Why is this focus appropriate for the selected text? Notes:

An activating experience could be an activity that calls up or builds student background knowledge that will be useful in accessing the text. It could also be an activity where students apply the focus or skill of the lesson to texts or contexts that are familiar from their lives.

Background Knowledge

What Background Knowledge is Needed? What Background Knowledge do My Students Have?

What background knowledge or information will students What are some things my students already know about need in order to access or make sense of this text? (either through study in class or their own experience) that can serve as a point of connection to the text? Notes:

Activating Experience

Which of the following activities could be used to activate and build student background knowledge in preparation for reading the text?

Discussing or debating a question Watching or listening to an audio/video clip, followed by discussion Reading a different (short) text Pre-writing, followed by discussion (e.g. listing all that you know about a topic, completing a K-W-L chart, rating levels of agreement with a series of statements connected to the text) Other

Description of activity:

“Reading the World”1

Real-World Application Activating Experience

How do (or how could) students use the focus of the close What task or activity could prompt students to use the focus reading lesson in their day-to-day lives? of the lesson on a text (or in a context) with which they’re familiar? Description of activity:

1 Freire, Paulo, and Macedo, Donaldo. (1987). Literacy: Reading the Word and the World. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey.

In a “first-draft reading,” students should work to build a literal understanding of the text, and get a feel for its structure and the way it uses language.2 Use the table below as a guide for framing the first reading.

Setting the Focus

In the first reading, do I want to have students attend to the focus chosen in Step II?

or:

Do I want to use the first reading as an opportunity for students to make a personal response to the passage? (A personal response may include feelings or reactions, personal connections, questions and wonderings)

Monitoring Comprehension

Considerations Strategies for Monitoring Comprehension

• How will I have my students monitor their • Highlighting words or sentences that are confusing comprehension as they read? • Rating levels of understanding for different sections • Should I model a specific comprehension- of the passage monitoring strategy? • Posing questions

Recording Thinking

Considerations Strategies for Recording Thinking

• Do I want my students to record their thinking as • Post-its they read? If so, how? • Annotating the margins • What will be the purpose of having my students • A chart or table record their thinking during this reading? (E.g. a three-column chart for “I noticed”, “I wonder,” “This reminds me of…” etc.) • A double-entry diary (e.g. a two-column chart in which one column contains quotes from the text and the other questions or reactions to that quote) • Other

Notes/plans for the first reading:

2 Gallagher, K. (2004). Deeper reading: Comprehending challenging texts 4-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

The first discussion should be used to help students build a basic understanding of the text that can then be elaborated upon with subsequent readings and discussions. Questions and observations shared during the first discussion can set the stage for the second reading.

Beginning the Discussion

Considerations: Possible Discussion Topics and Sentence Stems

• Would I like to begin the discussion by having • Observations: “I noticed…One thing that stuck out to students share the thinking they recorded during me was…One thing that caught my attention was…One the first reading? place where I saw [focus] appear was…” • Would I like to initiate the discussion by posing a • Questions: “I wondered about…I was confused by…I question? By having a student pose a question? didn’t understand what it meant when it said…” • Connections and Reactions: “___ reminded me of…When I read ___, I felt…”

Structuring the Discussion

Considerations Possible Discussion Structures/Supports

• Do I want the discussion to take place in a whole- • Save the Last Word3 class setting? In small groups? In partners or • Silent Discussion4 triads? What norms will we set prior to the • Dialogue Groups5 discussion (e.g. listening carefully and not • Discussion stems: interrupting) - “I agree/disagree with [student] because…” • Do I want to use any specific discussion - “[Student’s] comment makes me think…” structures? - “[Student’s] comment reminded me of… - “[Student’s] comment makes me wonder…” - “’One thing I’d like to add is…” Notes/plans for the first discussion:

Notes/observations from the first discussion (i.e. common “noticings,” questions, or points made by students):

3 Students are arranged in groups. Each student shares a short quote from the text. All of the other students in the group share their thoughts or reactions about that quote, then the initiating student shares the “last word.” 4 Students are arranged in groups. Each student writes a short response to a question initiated by the teacher (or another student in the class). They then pass their papers, and write a response to the response that was written before theirs. After each paper makes its way back to the original owner, the group shares their thoughts verbally. 5 Students are arranged in groups, and each group has a different topic or focus (e.g. “Questions,” “Challenging vocabulary,” “Direct characterization”). The group finds examples in the text that connect to their focus, then prepare to share with the whole class.

The second reading is the heart of the close reading lesson. This is where students go back to the text and read with a specific focus for the purpose of synthesizing new understandings.

Setting the Focus

• What is the focus for the close reading that I chose in Step II? • Do I want to modify or augment the focus of this reading, based on what emerged in the first discussion? • How will I present or transition into the focus for this reading?

Notes:

Recording Thinking

The process described by the chart below is one framework for supporting students in the second reading of a text. It can be reproduced on a handout, but students could also replicate it on their own sheet of paper or by annotating the text itself. The boxes are not important; the thought process is. Think about how you will introduce it, and what modeling students may need before they try it on their own.

Focus [from above]:

1. Find Evidence in the Text6 2. Detect and Connect 3. Build New Understandings

(Quotes, examples, or details related (Detect patterns: Look for ways that (Use the evidence, patterns and to the focus of the close reading.) different details fit together, or not. connections you found to make Make connections between different inferences about the text.) details or examples and earlier parts of the text. Connect to background knowledge.)

6 The process described here is informed by the approach that Roberts and Lehman (2014) describe in their book Falling in Love with Close Reading. Adapted and used with permission from the publisher, Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.

The purpose of the second discussion is for students to help one another make inferences and to synthesize new understandings about the text. Students should cite evidence and examples found in the second reading, and work together to interpret them.

Structuring the Discussion

Considerations Discussion Structures for Different Purposes

• What will be the purpose of the second discussion, • Partners or Small Groups: Use this structure to have and which structure would best support that students discuss details they found in the text, and work purpose? together to identify patterns and connections in those • How will I frame the purpose of the discussion to details. Partners and small groups can develop initial my students? interpretations of the text. • Whole Class: Whole-class discussion can be used for students to share inferences and new understandings, and offer textual inference to support them. Ideas and interpretations can be discussed, shared, and debated.

Returning to the Text

Considerations Possible Questions or Response Stems

• How will I bring the discussion back to the passage • Which part of the text helped you form that idea? itself if it starts getting far removed from the text? • Can you tell me more about…? • How can I invite students to offer ideas and • That’s a really interesting idea. How did you arrive at it? interpretations for discussion, even if they are not • It’s okay if you’re not sure about something. Share your fully formed? thinking and we’ll discuss it together. • Is there evidence in the text that supports…? • Is there evidence in the text that could refute…? • Combine what the text says with some things you already know. What do you think makes the most sense? • When it says _____, what do you think it means?

VIII. Beyond the Second Discussion

Students could return to the same passage and read it with a different focus. They could read it with the same focus, but gather additional evidence and refine interpretations from the second discussion. Students could read on in the same text or apply the same focus to a different text, except this time working independently. Finally, students could be prompted to do some writing about the text they read. Any activity beyond the second discussion should be guided by the two overarching purposes of close reading: 1) to build students’ ability to read more critically and attentively, and 2) to build their ability to do so independently.

I. Choose a Text

Teachers should be thoughtful and intentional when they select a text for close reading. Several factors affect the complexity of a text, as well as its accessibility and readability for your students. Use the questions below to guide your selection of a text for close reading.

Title/Section/Passage: “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan (link)

Quantitative Measures of Text Complexity

What quantitative information do you have about the complexity of this text? This may include Lexile score, Fry readability score, or other quantitative measures of grade level.

880L (8th grade) – Based on information from a diagnostic assessment, this text is on the instructional reading level of most of the students in my class. A few students who are reading significantly below grade level will need additional support, particularly with some of the vocabulary in the story.

Qualitative Elements of Text Complexity

Levels of Meaning Structure Language Clarity Knowledge Demands

To what extent are the ideas To what extent does the Does the text use simpler, To what extent does the text in this text simple, direct, structure and organization of tier 1 vocabulary or more require specialized and explicit? To what extent the text support the reader’s formal, academic (tier 2 and background knowledge that are they abstract or implied? comprehension? tier 3) words? How long are may be unfamiliar to the sentences? students, or distant from their experiences?

Notes: • Combination of direct and abstract ideas (parent-child conflict, generational and cultural conflict, etc.) • Story follows a narrative arc with a clear beginning, middle, and end • Mostly Tier 1 words, but some Tier II words like “devastate,” “discordant,” “envision” • Background knowledge on the experience of immigrant parents and American-born children; Chinese-American culture in the 1950’s and ‘60’s

Relevance and Student Interest Connection to Unit of Study

Based on what I know about my students, how likely are How is this text connected (topically or thematically) to the they to find this text relevant and interesting? current unit of study?

Several of my students were born in the United States, but have parents who emigrated from a different country – much like the main character and her mother in the story. Also, several students have mentioned conflicts with their parents similar to the kind depicted in the story: the parent wants his or her child to “be” one way, but the child has different desires and aspirations. The themes in this story connect to the unit we’re working on right now, which has to do with the different things that make up our identities. This text has a strong relationship to some of the essential questions from the unit, including “What are the things that make me ‘me’?” and “How do I define myself? How do others define me?”

Literary Texts Informational Texts Any Text

Why this Focus?

Why is this focus appropriate for the selected text?

Conflict plays an incredibly important role in this story. There is the direct conflict between the narrator and her mother, but also an interior conflict that the narrator faces over her identity and who she wants to be. Although my students were introduced to the concept of conflict in an early unit on elements of literature, we have not yet deeply analyzed how conflict can drive characters’ actions and self-concept – both in stories and I real life. Conflict can thus be a lens for reading this specific story, as well as exploring the essential questions of our unit.

Background Knowledge

What Background Knowledge is Needed? What Background Knowledge do My Students Have?

• Students have B.K. on different types of conflict (man v. man, man v. nature, man vs. himself/society) • Students have B.K. based on conflicts they have experienced in their personal lives • Some students in class have B.K. on immigrant families, and what it’s like for children to be members of two cultures • Need: B.K. on the author, and her experience as a Chinese-American woman who is the child of immigrants

Activating Experience

Which of the following activities could be used to activate and build student background knowledge in preparation for reading the text?

Description of activity: • Watch a short video interview with the author, in which she discusses the impact of her identity on her work, followed by discussion. • Short pre-writing activity, in which students write down all of the sources of conflict they can think of between parents and their children. Students will be encouraged to draw on personal experience, and the activity will be followed by discussion.

“Reading the World”7

Real-World Application Activating Experience

How do (or how could) students use the focus of the close What task or activity could prompt students to use the focus reading lesson in their day-to-day lives, on texts with which of the lesson on a text (or in a context) with which they’re they are familiar? familiar?

I’ll have students spend a week keeping a “conflict journal,” in which they record information either about conflicts they personally experience, or conflicts they observe. The conflicts can be internal (man v. self) or external (with another person – man v. man). The purpose is to examine the ways these conflicts affect their actions, as well as the ways their actions shape the conflicts. At the end of the week students will share what they learned – about themselves, about the nature of conflict, and about productive and unproductive ways to handle it.

7 Freire, P., and Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the Word and the World. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey.

Setting the Focus

In the first reading, do I want to have students attend to the focus chosen in Step II?

or:

Monitoring Comprehension

Considerations Strategies for Monitoring Comprehension

Recording Thinking

Considerations Strategies for Recording Thinking

• Do I want my students to record their thinking as • Post-its they read? If so, how? • Annotating the margins • What will be the purpose of having my students • A chart or table record their thinking during this reading? (e.g. a three-column chart for “I noticed”, “I wonder,” “This reminds me of…” etc.) • A double-entry diary (e.g. a two-column chart in which one column contains quotes from the text and the other questions or reactions to that quote) • Other

• Have students highlight passages that are confusing or unclear • Students will record observations, questions, and connections in a three-column chart labeled “I noticed,” “I wonder,” and “This reminds me of” • Use think-aloud to model highlighting for confusion and making note of observations, questions, etc.

Beginning the Discussion

Considerations: Possible Discussion Topics and Sentence Stems

• Would I like to begin the discussion by having • Noticings: “I noticed…One thing that stuck out to me students share the thinking they recorded during was…One thing that caught my attention was…One the first reading? place where I saw [focus] appear was…” • Would I like to initiate the discussion by posing a • Questions: “I wondered about…I was confused by…I question? By having a student pose a question? didn’t understand what it meant when it said…” • Connections and Reactions: “___ reminded me of…When I read ___, I felt…”

Structuring the Discussion

Considerations Possible Discussion Structures/Supports

• Do I want the discussion to take place in a whole- • Save the Last Word8 class setting? In small groups? In partners or • Silent Discussion9 triads? What norms will we set prior to the • Dialogue Groups10 discussion (e.g. listening carefully and not • Discussion stems: interrupting) - “I agree/disagree with [student] because…” • Do I want to use any specific discussion - “[Student’s] comment makes me think…” structures? - “[Student’s] comment reminded me of… - “[Student’s] comment makes me wonder…” - “’One thing I’d like to add is…”

I will place students in three or four-person, pre-made discussion groups. Each student will take turns sharing at least one observation, one question, and one connection they made while reading. After each student shares, the group will have an opportunity to discuss points or ideas raised by the student. At the end of fifteen minutes, each group must identify at least one question for whole class discussion. At the beginning of class I will have a group of pre-selected students model the following expectations for discussion via a “fish bowl” activity: • Using discussion stems • Posing comments and questions in response to peer comments • Returning to the text to find evidence that gives insight into questions

These expectations will be modeled and reinforced throughout the discussion.

8 Students are arranged in groups. Each student shares a short quote from the text. All of the other students in the group share their thoughts or reactions about that quote, then the initiating student shares the “last word.” 9 Students are arranged in groups. Each student writes a short response to a question initiated by the teacher (or another student in the class). They then pass their papers, and write a response to the response that was written before theirs. After each paper makes its way back to the original owner, the group shares their thoughts verbally. 10 Students are arranged in groups, with each group being given a different topic or focus (e.g. “Questions,” “Challenging vocabulary,” “Direct characterization”). The group finds examples in the text that connect to their focus, then prepare to share with the whole class.

Setting the Focus

In the first discussion, students had very different reactions to the actions of the main character. Some students identified with the feeling of being controlled by a parent or authority figure, and forced to do something against one’s wishes. Others felt that although the main character’s feelings were valid, children have a duty to respect and obey their parents. I’m going to refer back to specific points raised in the first discussion to set the focus of this reading: examining the character’s actions through the lens of conflict. That is, what different forms of conflict does she experience, and how do they affect her actions over the course of the story?

Recording Thinking

The process described by the chart below is one framework for supporting students in the close reading of a text. It can be reproduced on a handout, but students could also replicate it on their own sheet of paper or by annotating the text itself. The boxes are not important; the thought process is. Think about how you will introduce it, and what modeling students may need before they try it on their own.

Focus: Conflict

Find Evidence in the Text Detect and Connect Build New Understandings

(Quotes or examples showing where (Detect patterns: look for ways that (Use the evidence, patterns and the subject of the focus appears in the different details fit together, or not. connections you found to make text.) Make connections between different inferences about the text.) details or examples and earlier parts of the text. Connect to background knowledge.)

To model the thought process of finding evidence, detecting patterns, and building new understandings, I’ll follow these steps: 1. I’ll re-read a short passage from the story containing textual evidence that students referenced from the first discussion. 2. Using a think-aloud, I’ll note two pieces of evidence related to our focus (conflict), and write them on my chart. 3. Using a think-aloud, I’ll model the process of examining possible connections between pieces of textual evidence, and how they fit together. 4. I won’t supply an inference for students, but I’ll explain that the final step is to examine the evidence, examine the patterns and connections, and then make an inference. In this case, we’re trying to create new thinking about the way conflict works in this story. 5. Students will re-read, noting evidence, and proposing patterns and connections. The third column will be for possible inferences that can be talked about during the discussion.

Structuring the Discussion

Considerations Discussion Structures for Different Purposes

Returning to the Text

Considerations Possible Questions or Response Stems

VIII. Beyond the Second Discussion

Since the focus of this close reading was analyzing conflict, I’m going to have students apply that lens to the books that they have chosen to use for reader’s workshop. If a student happens to be reading a nonfiction book for reader’s workshop, we’ll work to identify a different focus for reading. The main process that I want students to practice on their self-chosen text is gathering evidence  detecting connections and patterns  building new understandings. I’ll continue to model this process in upcoming workshop days, and return to it in conferences with students. As students discuss their texts with one another, we will continue the practice (developed during close reading) of sharing inferences about the text we’re reading, but supporting them with evidence.

Beers, K. & Probst, R.E. (2013). Notice and note: Strategies for close reading. Porstmouth, NH: Heinemann

Brown, S., & Kappes, L. (2012). Implementing the Common Core State Standards: A primer on “close reading of text.” Washington, DC: Aspen Institute.

Fang, Z., & Pace, B.G. (2013). Teaching with challenging texts in the disciplines: Text complexity and close reading. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 57(2), 104-108.

Gallagher, K. (2004). Deeper reading: Comprehending challenging texts 4-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Gillet, Temple, Temple, & Crawford. (2012). Understanding reading problems: Assessment and instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Hinchman, K.A., & Moore, D.W. (2013). Close reading: A cautionary interpretation. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 56(6), 441-450.

Lehman, C., & Roberts, K. (2014). Falling in love with close reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heineman.

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Washington, DC: Authors.

Newkirk, T. (2010). The case for slow reading. Educational Leadership, 6-11.

Newkirk, T. (2012). The text itself: Some thought on the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. Retrieved October 16, 2014 from www.heinemann.com/pd/journal/TheTextItself_Newkirk_Essay_S12.pdf

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2008). How to read a paragraph: The art of close reading. Tomales, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking.