Close Reading, Part II

So, after over a month-long hiatus, I am back! I took off a month to do more than work. It was fantastic!!
But today, I went back to training, for the second part of teaching close reading!
Here are the notes I made during training. Please forgive me if some of them are also on Close Reading Part I. We went through a refresher since most of us had what I affectionately call "summer brain." Yes, we teachers get it too, not just our kiddos.

Close Reading Part II

Close Reading Refresher

Close reading is:

• Examining the text with deeper intentions
• Students read independently, then with a group, then independently
• Noticing the author’s specific word choice, writing style, main ideas, etc.
• 3 days, 1 text excerpt
• Asking questions about the text
• Teacher and students asking questions
• Students citing text
• Whole group and small group
• Students using annotations- or use paper clips!!
• Some sort of response after reading text

Scaffolding Complex Text

• Modeling - don’t frontload a lot of information. If you find yourself front loading a lot of information, it's probably not a good book to start close reading with.

CCSS:

• Anchor standard 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly
• Anchor 2: Determine central ideas or themes
• Anchor 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact
• Anchor 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text,
• Anchor 5: Analyze the structure of a text
• Anchor 6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
• Anchor 7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively
• Anchor 8: Delineate
• Anchor 9: Analyze
  (Based on New Mexico standards)

10 Ideas for Close Reading

• Author’s purpose
• reread the details to find author’s purpose
• Identifying the tone of the piece
• reread for details
• Character Development
• KC and the Bat is a good book for character development

Types of Text to Cover

• Biography
• Procedural
• Science
• Social Science
• Narrative

Scheduling/Scaffolding Close Reading within your Literacy Block

Times to take from:

• 90 Minutes
• Interactive Read Alouds
• Shared Reading
• Guided Reading
• Independent Reading
• Guided Writing
• Shared Writing
• Independent Writing
• Each day has a different purpose!!
• Day 1- independent reading, share after reading- 20 min max
• Day 2- read aloud, guided writing- do it for them
• Day 3- guided reading, independent writing
• Materials:
• Document Camera/Smart Board
• Copies of 1 book or two page excerpt
• Highlighters, paper clips, sticky notes, pencils

Lesson Plan for Close Reading

• First Reading: Students read the passage on their own. Turn and talk to a partner and discuss what the passage is about. Paraphrase what the selection was about. Include: observations, challenges, comments
• Second reading: Use scaffolding. Teacher reads and makes observations and poses questions. Students reread, marking the passage with important information that ties back to the questions posed by the teacher.
• page __ : Observations questions: Teacher created (see below Under Text Dependent Questions)
• Third reading: Look at the passage with a different lense. Partner talk. Passage is reread multiple times highlighting textual evidence. Then write about the text. Make inferences.

Teacher

• Before the Reading
• Select appropriate short passage of a reading selection
• Text has appropriate complexity for the grade level
• Decide what questions will help the reader engage in deep thinking with each rereading
• Include questions that address Standards 4 - 6, Craft and Structure, and  7 - 9, Key Ideas and Details.
• Prepares questions to pose to help students think deeply.
• During the Reading
• Listens in to students reading
• Observes the readers for evidence of deep thinking
• On the second reading, the teacher will read the text making observations and posing questions that address the aforementioned standards.
• After the Reading
• Reflect on what was good, what will you change? Which students are having difficulty and which are excelling at close reading?

Students

• During the Reading
• Read the passage to themselves
• Make notes or highlight important information or parts as they read
• Think about these questions as they read:
• What is the author telling me here?
• Are there any hard or important words?
• What does the author want me to understand?
• How does the author play with language to add meaning?
• After the Reading
• Have a partner discussion after each reading.
• Discuss with partner what they had observed, what challenges they had, and what textual evidence they found.
• Write about what they read.

Text-Dependent Questions

• Vocabulary- Reread and look for clues to help you define the unfamiliar word. Can you find a synonym, a definition, text clues, or picture clues?
• Find It! Level 1- The answers are right in the text, Reread to locate facts and details to answer the questions.
• Look Closer! Level 2- The answers are in the text, but you may need to look in more than one place to find them.
• Prove It! Level 3- You’ll have to be a detective. You won’t find the exact answers to these questions, but you will find clues and evidence to support your inferences and conclusions.
• Take It Apart! Level 4 - As you reread, ask yourself, “How did the author organize the information? Why did she/he write the book?”

Establishing a Routine

• Preteach the vocabulary and concepts
• If it’s over 25%, the text is too difficult for close reading
• Set a purpose for reading
• Model close reading
• Provided guided practice and check for understanding
• Provide independent practice
• Organize discussions and debates
• “It looks to me like the author meant this..”
• Have students write in a group
• Do this for the first few months
• Reading more complex texts requires time
• For teachers to model how to comprehend
• For students to comprehend
• For students to practice
• For students to share
  
  

Close Attention to Reading of Complex Text

• Textual Analysis:
• Critical reading
• Reasoning and use of evidence
• Evaluate and Interpret
• Synthesize- to be reaffirmed or to change your mind
• Understand precisely
• Cite specific evidence- but don’t plagiarize

What do you need to start Close Reading?

• Review nontext features
• Header, caption
• Teach them to skim paragraphs and pages for information
• Teach them to summarize
• reading.ecb.org
• smart exchange
• read write think
• Build stamina
• Blocks of reading time getting longer
• Teach them how to take notes
• Teach them how to respond on paper
• Teach them how to annotate

As I've said before that I'm not a close reading expert, so here is some more info for you that goes much more in depth than  what I have posted: http://nieonline.com/tbtimes/downloads/CCSS_reading.pdf.
And here's a great website to teach reading strategies: http://reading.ecb.org/student/entry.html
Hope these help!
Cheers,
J2