Close Reading- The Whys. The dos. The Donts.

"A close reading, though, reveals mostly empty language..."

​- Charlotte Observer 4/12/2016

Close reading should pull back the curtain veiling full comprehension.

 HB2 Brings home the real-life importance of teaching close reading.  No matter how you interpret the bill, as the Charlotte Observer points out, it requires a close read. 

Close reading isn't a time waster where you give students the same old worksheet except  this time make students annotate and re read until they are sick of it. Close reading has become almost meaningless edujargon but is actually an essential life skill.

Close reading is really just a venue for teaching critical thinking and careful evidence gathering. Without close reading,  students are at the mercy of those on both sides of the aisle who twist interpretations for a living. This doesn't just happen in politics. It happens in marketing, advertising, retail, social and commercial situations of all kids.

To view students above practicing close reading go to http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/metacognitive-partner-talk-a-reading-and-thinking-strategy
text = any work you are examining closely, written or other. read= the process of closely examining it.

Teacher Close Reading Do's and Dont's:

• Do Choose a worthy text (see below)
• Do "chunk" it if if is larger.
• Do model metacognition and close reading for students.
• Do Re-read and annotate.  

​BUT...

• Don't have students annotate and discuss something that is already straightforward-- If  it can be fully understood  in one read, it is not challenging enough. Find something else.  (However, I have done 3o minute socratic seminars just on Jack and the Beanstalk, so don't confuse big words with depth)
• Don't stop with comprehension questions- they are step one. Close reading requires two more steps. 

 A good "Close Reading" text should :

• be motivating (example math problems featuring Mr. Davis)
• have multiple or hidden meanings (should NOT be fully understandable in just one reading)
• During the The Close Reading Process students Students should
• "talk to the text" when close reading--using annotation strategies appropriate to the discipline (examples: the "CUBES"strategy for math problems and the "Notice and Note" annotations for ELA)
• discuss with each other and explain why they think what they do.

This article summarizes some good points if you are still not sure.
http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/2012/06/what-is-close-reading.html

As part of your PLC walk-through please, stop by the Close Reading bulletin board to discuss. Note ways that close reading is being used at Piedmont and what makes the example close reading. ​ Do the samples give you any ideas for your own classroom? Which one(s) are your favorite? What would you change?

Don't forget to leave positive notes about what you observe as you watch your coworkers tomorrow in the walk through.

Resources:
Close Reading Visual Media -short documentaries to use in class
Close Reading  Annotation Tool - Diigo - to use with Chromebooks
Close Reading Graphs and Charts - Turner's Graph of the Week

Related Posts:
http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/text-dependent-questions
http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/metacognitive-partner-talk-a-reading-and-thinking-strategy