Close Reading and the Common Core

Diane Rymer
Vice President, Professional Development Programs
CLOSE READING

In this webinar we will address :
The process for engaging students in the close reading of
complex texts
The importance of setting a clear purpose and
recognizing text structure
Methods for having students re-read the text and
annotate it in order to examine key vocabulary,
structure, language, and meaning
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Webinar Objectives:

Workshop Question:
How do we help our students
become critical readers and
interpreters of text?

Questions
 How were you taught to analyze, discuss, and take notes
on texts when you were in school?
 Did your approach to reading and annotating texts change
as you progressed through school? If so, how and why?
 Is there a difference between “reading to know” and
“reading to understand”?
© 2012 Catapult Learning, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 6

“Close reading is an intensive
analysis of a text in order to come
to terms with what it says, how it
says it, and what it means.”
-Dr. Tim Shanahan, director of the Center for Literacy at
University of Illinois- Chicago
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What is Close Reading?
 Reading to uncover layers of meaning that lead to deep
comprehension
 Engaging with complex text directly and examining meaning
thoroughly
• Central ideas & supporting details
• Vocabulary
• Craft technique
• Author’s purpose
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What does Close Reading require?
 Requires multiple reads of text
 Uses shorter texts
 Focuses on analysis & discussion
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CCR Anchor Standards for Reading
(Literature, Informational Text, non-ELA subject areas)
Key Ideas and Details
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key
supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Craft and Structure
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and
figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the
text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and
quantitatively, as well as in words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning
as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to
compare the approaches the authors take.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Close Reading
1. Read, with a pen/pencil in hand
2. Annotate, note what is surprising (!), significant
(highlight/underline/*), or raises questions (?);
circle unknown vocabulary
3. Consider patterns in the text, are there words,
phrases, or thoughts that repeat, are contrary,
or are similar
4. Ask questions, especially how and why, about
the patterns noticed
Throughout the process, the teacher can lead this
activity as a whole class discussion or students can
engage with peers in pairs or groups using a “think-
pair-share” approach.
Source: Adapted from Kain, P. (1998). How to do a close reading. Boston, MA:
Writing Center, Harvard University

SIX ELEMENTS
OF COMPLEX TEXT
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Text Relationships
 Readers have to identify relationships in texts that are
implicit and deeply embedded in the message.
 Readers must be able to make inferences and construct a
meaning that is not always directly stated.
 Complex texts may present multiple themes, multiple
perspectives or perspectives unlike those held by the
reader.
From Developing Readers in the Academic Disciplines (2011) by Doug Buehl
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Richness of Detail
 Increasingly complex texts provide more depth of
background detail and conceptual information
 Readers must navigate sophisticated material to construct
meaning
 Information is displayed in multiple visual forms and
graphic representations
 Exhibit higher intertextuality
 Lengthier and require readers to determine essential ideas
and supporting details
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Text Structure
 More elaborate organization of ideas and information
 Awareness of text structure and ability to track
development of explanations, arguments, and ideas are
key to comprehending complex texts
 Texts require readers to recognize text structures that are
not explicitly stated
 Authors may present more than a single logical idea
between ideas
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Writing Style
 More intricate writing styles with more lengthy and
sophisticated sentence structures
 Readers need to track connective language and analyze
grammatical structure
 Readers must be sensitive to author’s tone and determine
how use of language influences understanding of a text
 Writing styles may not mirror contemporary or familiar
conventions
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Vocabulary Density
 Increase in challenging vocabulary
 Precision and clarity in use of language; emphasis on
academic discourse
 Greater frequency of highly technical disciplinary language
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Author’s Purpose
 May require readers infer author’s purpose for writing text
 May be clearly stated or ambiguous
 May be multiple purposes
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THE CLOSE READING
PROCESS
The Close Reading
Process
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The Close Reading Process
Step One: Set a Purpose for Reading (Teacher Hat)
• Present an overarching, text-based question that
only a close reading will answer.
• Present the step-by-step structure
• Present a short passage for study
20

 Step Two: First Reading (or read-aloud) (Student Hat)
• Read or listen in order to answer questions such as:
– Is this fiction or non-fiction?
– Who is the story about? / What topic is the article or
essay about?
– What is the main thing the main character does? /
What is the most important thing said about the main
topic?
– What was the author’s purpose in writing?
21

 Step Three: Second Reading with Purpose for Reading
(Student Hat)
• Students create 3-column notes to examine issues such as:
– How does the author use structure to advance the main ideas?
– What important, interesting, or confusing words, phrases, or
imagery does the author use to advance the main ideas?
– What recurring patterns do you see?
– What internal similarities or contradictions do you see?
– What other details do you see that support the main ideas? (How
is the author telling this story or advancing this argument or
discussion?)
– What questions would you have for the author along the way?
(“Why are you doing that?” “Why did you say it that way?”)
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Three-Column Note-Taking
Quotes Notes Questions
“We wear the mask” (title) Title gives you the whole main idea of
the poem
It’s a poem, so he doesn’t mean it
literally
Is “we” everyone or just African
Americans? Or African American
males?
Why is it “the” mask? Does everyone
wear the same one? Is there only
one?
Students copy words,
phrases, images,
sentences of interest or
question
Students jot down
notes about the quote,
its meaning, and its
importance
Students pose
questions about the
text to themselves, the
author, or the teacher
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Three-Column Note-Taking for Non-Readers
Quotes Notes Questions
HIDING
PRETENDING
AFRAID
James asks why the author
keeps doing it if he
knows it’s wrong or
unhealthy
Create a graphic
organizer with words
and/or other images
pre-selected
Students can make
pictures, write single
words, or dictate ideas
to the teacher or aide
Have students listen in
pairs and ask questions
of each other at pause
points.
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Annotating the text
Text annotations are….
 Marks and notes made within the body of reading (or on sticky notes) to
create a reference point for students when they return to the text and
help them process the text during reading.
Why do students annotate text?
 In order to be able to ‘prove it’ and justify opinions
 To generate discussion based on text evidence
 It helps to clarify text and create deeper understandings of the text
 Teaches students a purpose for reading
 Helps support students’ comprehension
 Brings academic vocabulary and sentence structure to the forefront for
students
 Raises the rigor by supporting students to find the key points and
vocabulary
 To support students’ re-reading of the text

How to Annotate
There’s no one correct way
 Circle or put boxes, triangles, or clouds around words or phrases.
 Use abbreviations or symbols – [brackets], stars (multiple stars for varying
degrees of importance), !!exclamation points!!, ??question marks??,
numbers, etc.
 Connect words, phrases, ideas, circles, boxes, etc. with lines or arrows.
 Underline – CAUTION: Use this method sparingly. Underline only a few
words.
 Highlight – use CAUTION – don’t highlight everything!
 Color-mark: Mark with a different color each type of image, image
pattern, or motif that is predominant in the passage.
 Create your own code.
 Use post-it notes ONLY if you have exhausted all available space or don’t
own the book.
 Make brief comments in the margins or between the lines.

 Step Four: Discussion
• Teacher poses text-dependent questions that require close
analysis of the text, its structure, and the author’s
craftsmanship
• Teacher guides students to refer explicitly to their notes in
answering questions
• Teacher uses questioning to build deep understanding of the
text and help students engage with the larger purpose for
reading
• Teacher may scaffold by having students answer overarching
questions as a class before attempting any writing
28

Discussion Questions Examples
 How is this similar to or different from…?
 Why did … occur?
 Explain the series of events that led to…
 Is there a better solution to…?
 Defend your position on… (use text-based evidence)
 Respectfully, critique your peer’s position on…
 Justify your solution…
 Evaluate the effectiveness of ….
 What would happen if…?
 Design a … to do…
 Formulate a counter-argument to …
 Construct a problem for your peers to solve…
 Given your approach, devise a formula to solve…
 Imagine how the character would handle the circumstances …
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 Step Five: Writing
• Teacher has students respond to the overarching question(s) in
a paragraph (or a paired discussion for lower grades)
• Teacher guides students to make specific references to the text
in answering questions or advancing arguments, using the notes
they took while reading
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 Students are expected to engage in rich, evidence-
based dialogue about a text they have read
 Teachers must now train students to stay in the text,
to draw conclusions and make arguments about the
text and do so through the text itself
 Teachers should be asking, “where do you see that in
the text? What paragraph? What sentence? What
word?” and students must begin to think and argue
through and with texts by constantly being asked to
find evidence in what they have read.
Text-based Answers
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The Power of Questions in our Classroom

Creating Text-Dependent Questions
Good text-dependent questions will often linger over
specific phrases and sentences to ensure careful
comprehension of the text—they help students see
something worthwhile that they would not have seen on a
more cursory reading.
Source: http://www.achievethecore.org/steal-these-tools/text-dependent-questions
Discuss:
How does asking text-dependent questions support the
Close Reading process?
34

35
Encourage students to:
•Engage in rich dialogue about what they read
•Draw conclusions about a text
•Make arguments and draw conclusions about a text
using the text to justify and support reasoning
•Stay in the text
Encourage teachers to:
•Let the students do the thinking
•Take a backseat and allow the students to learn from
one another
•Ask specific questions that push students to stay in
the text
Text-based Answers

Text-Dependent Questions
36
In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out.
Describe a time when you failed at
something.
In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr.
King discusses nonviolent protest.
Discuss, in writing, a time when you
wanted to fight against something that
you felt was unfair.
In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln
says the nation is dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created
equal. Why is equality an important
value to promote?
What makes Casey’s experiences at bat
humorous?
What can you infer from King’s letter
about the letter that he received?
“The Gettysburg Address” mentions the
year 1776. According to Lincoln’s
speech, why is this year significant to
the events described in the speech?
Not Text-Dependent Text-Dependent

Frog and Toad Are Friends
“But, Toad,” cried Frog, “you will miss all the fun!”
“Listen, Frog” said Toad. “How long have I been asleep?”
“You have been asleep since November,” said Frog.
“Well then,” said Toad, “a little more sleep will not hurt me. Come back again and
wake me up at about half past May. Good night, Frog.”
“But, Toad,’ said Frog, “I will be lonely until then.”
Toad did not answer. He had fallen asleep.
Frog looked at Toad’s calendar. The November page was still on top.
Frog tore off the November page.
He tore off the December page.
And the January page, the February page, and the March page.
He came to the April page. Frog tore off the April page too.
Then Frog ran back to Toad’s bed. “Toad, Toad, wake up. It is May now.”
“What?” said Toad. “Can it be May so soon?
“Yes,” said Frog. “Look at your calendar.”
Toad looked at the calendar. The May page was on top.
“Why, it is May!” said Toad as he climbed out of bed. 37

Close Reading in your school or classroom
Knowing your students, how would you structure your
close reading?
Consider:
 Using graphic organizer or other scaffolds for complex text
 Skill level
 Whole class vs. small group discussion
 Buddy reading

Wrap-Up
39
What?
• What did you learn today?
So What?-
• What does it mean for you in the work
you do?
Now What?
• What will you change in your practice to
reflect what you have learned?

Close Reading and the Common Core

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