Falling in Love with Close Reading Book Study: Chapter 1

Hello friends~

Welcome to Week 1 of our group book study! We are so excited you stopped by to read about Chapter 1 today. The best part about a book study like this, is that it is made up of 13 different educators from different locations & different K-5 Grades. So everyone is reading & responding with a different set of eyes so to speak. So as you read everyone's posts & responses to the "Driving Questions" of each chapter you will gain more knowledge & ideas. Please make sure to stop back each week, for the next 7 weeks, to read about the 7 different chapters in this book. There will also be prizes & giveaways each week!

So, let's get started...

Question 1: What is Close Reading?

It is not sitting close to the text!!! It is not cloze reading. There are a lot of interpretations about defining Close Reading.

The authors stated, "Put directly, close reading is something we should teach students to do, rather than something we just do to them" (Lehman & Roberts, 2014, p. 4). Close Reading is a way readers analyze text. We want readers to focus on the text, examine it thoroughly & gather as much new meaning as they can. The book also discussed that we want to bring two goals together. The first goal is to teach students to read more analytically & the second goal is to also value their lives & experiences. 

So let me tell you honestly, on my journey since March studying this topic. To me personally, I had to get my get my mind wrapped around these different ideas of teaching reading before I can do anything with my students. The biggest thing I learned when researching this topic is that Close Reading is opposite of what I've been doing in my small groups. Not that what I have been doing wasn't right, or good, or successful, but Close Reading is different. It discourages "front-loading" so to speak. We don't want to start out with picture walks, making connections, the teacher telling the students what they will do for reading & anything else we do along these lines. Close Reading is a way we teach & guide students to become independent readers & learners. Students need to focus on the text & use the text only to gain information. 

So after I got this in my head then I had to move on to what else Close Reading is. We want the reader to also look closely at the text structure, word choices, author's message & then furthermore go beyond one text & compare it to another text.

My new role was to not be the teacher who did all the front-loading & guiding, but to be the scaffolding & discussion facilitator for my students!

Also, one more thing... No secrets, tell your students that you are going to be re-reading & re-visiting the text multiple times when you start with a new text. My second graders thought they did something wrong or answered something wrong when I kept working with the same text day after day in our small groups. I had to share this information with them so that they were more comfortable. I told them it was kind of like using the same text multiple times during whole group reading or writing lessons. They needed a little connection & concrete answer...

Some great information from this book comes from the figures in each chapter. Fig. 1.1 in the book helps to define the meaning of Close Reading.

The authors stated the following figure...

Fig. 1.1 What is Close Reading?

• It is an interaction between the reader and a text (Douglas Fisher in the online video interview, "Close Reading and the Common Core State Standards," April 3, 2012)
• It is about making careful observations of a text and then interpretations of those observations (Patricia Kain for the Writing Center at Harvard University, 1998)
• It involves rereading; often rereading a short portion of a text that helps a reader to carry new ideas to the whole text (Kylene Beers and Robert Probst in Notice and Note, 2012).

(Lehman & Roberts, 2014, p. 4)

The topic of Close Reading was brought back to light so to speak through the start of the Common Core Standards. The authors of the Common Core Standards wrote that the standards across all grades would value "objective, close, analytical reading" (Lehman & Roberts, 2014, p. 3). 

Have you noticed this below when looking at the Common Core Standards...

• "read closely" and "cite specific textual evidence" (R.1)
• "analyze how... ideas develop and interact" (R.3)
• "interpret words and phrases" and "analyze how specific word choices shape meaning" (R.4)
• "analyze the structure of texts" (R.5)
• "assess how point of view" "shapes" a text (R.6)
• "analyze" "two or more texts" to build knowledge (R.9)

(Lehman & Roberts, 2014, p. 3)

Question 2: What is powerful Close Reading instruction?

The authors stated, "Close reading instruction is most effective as a powerful piece of a large, robust, and responsive literacy curriculum" (Lehman & Roberts, 2014, p. 4).

The authors stated the following figure...

Fig. 1.2 Powerful Close Reading Instruction

• must raise engagement and joy, not diminish it
• must lead to student independence, not dependence on teacher's prompting
• must be one piece of your reading instruction, not the only part of your instruction
• must allow time for students to read for extended periods and across many pages of text, not interrupt time spent reading with activities
• must be repeated across time and involve lots of opportunities for practice, not be a one-time, off-the-checklist activity
• must be designed in response to the strengths and needs of your students, not planned solely to match a book or fit a scope and sequence.

(Lehman & Roberts, 2014, p. 5)

So needless to say, Close Reading is not a one size fits all approach. Close Reading instruction can be done in large or small groups. Close Reading instruction can also start in a whole group setting & then observed more closely during a small group setting with more opportunities for discussion after opportunities for closer analysis. Don't over do it, find the text & access to the text for your students first. Have your questions for discussion & responses prepared in advance. These questions should be "text-dependent" questions, which are a higher level. "Text-Dependent" questions means that students will have to find "evidence" from the text. But, still have a few explicit questions that are a lower level. Since Close Reading can go on for a few days, I personally did one a week. Sometimes over more than a week. There is no set dosage for this type of reading instruction. 

In the upcoming chapters of this book we will be learning more about powerful Close Reading instruction such as:

• A study of Text Evidence
• A study of Word Choice
• A study of Structure
• A study of Point of View
• A study of Closely Reading Across Texts

{As I was typing the bullets above, I kept thinking to myself... This is all Common Core... Anyone else?}

Question 3: What are we currently doing in our Close Reading instruction?

As I have stated previously, I wasn't really doing Close Reading instruction until March of 2014. This is when I really dove in & started to educate myself & practice the things I was learning on my own. I did give myself a little credit though, because I did do a few things that follow along with the Close Reading practice. I was already huge with my small groups on text-evidence along with revisiting the text for deeper meaning. But I did an even better job with it after I started studying Close Reading...

Since March I have tried to create a balance in my small groups. I rotate my instructional practices which has stepped up my differentiated instruction. I do a little rotation of the following depending on my groups: phonics instruction, vocabulary instruction, traditional guided reading, implementing complex text at a higher lexile level & 1 Close Reading a week. I'm no pro by any means, but along my journey I could tell a difference in my students. The oral & written comprehension grew immediately after the first month or so. Our conversations that involved the word choices of the author & use of text evidence was awesome! I often stopped b/c I couldn't believe my ears. 8 year old students said what!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!! Yes I thought this!!!!!!

Currently my personal Close Reading planning process is like this: 
{Remember I'm not an expert! I'm still working it out!}

Steps 1-4 are for me:

1. Choose a genre & a text
2. Choose a lens {purpose} for reading
3. How will students access the text
4. Then I pre-read the text & plan for: Vocabulary {Tier 2 Academic}& {Tier 3 Content}, Prep Explicit Questions {low level}, Prep Text-Dependent Questions needing text-evidence {high level} & Prep tasks for the text.

The next steps, 1-7 are for our Close Read:

1. I always start with letting the students know we will be reading a specific text over the next few meetings. I give them the title & tell them we will learn more about the topic as we read. Minimal front loading! Then once we get started I have to remind myself that I am now the Scaffolding & Discussion Facilitator for my students!
2. Begin the first read. Present questions & a task.
3. Discussion time & a focus on vocabulary.
4. Begin the second read. Present questions & a task.
5. Discussion time & a focus on vocabulary.
6. Begin the third read. Present questions & a task.
7. Discussion time & a vocabulary wrap up with textual evidence review of task answers.

These are my own personal general steps from my studies that I follow to keep myself organized. When I present my prepped questions, I mix up low & high level questions. When I present a task it's always something that refers to the structure, word choices, content or authors viewpoints. Through the discussion time is when I facilitate  & see the student's gain a deeper meaning of the text. 

Click {here} for a free copy on my plan...
{I copy this page on one sheet so it's front & back}

Wow! That was a lot of info for just 3 questions from Chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed reading this post & I will see you next week for Chapter 2!

Don't forget to enter the raffle to win some items below, along with checking out everyone's post from Chapter 1 in the group. Click on their buttons below to visit their page. 

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