Meeting the Challenge of Common Core: Planning Close Reading CFN 604 October 21 st, 2014

Common Core Standards New standards are ambitious and are asking teachers to engage children in high level interpretation of challenging texts through close reading But what is close reading? There are many conceptions of “close reading” To figure out which of them is most consistent with the common core standards, it might help to do a close reading of the common core

English Language Arts Reading (really reading comprehension) Writing Speaking and Listening Language (conventions and vocabulary) Reading (foundational skills – K-3)

Reading (comprehension) There are 10 reading comprehension standards at each grade level These 10 standards are expressed either in 2 different ways (literary, informational) or in 4 different ways (literary, informational, history, science) The standards are divided into categories

Reading Themes/Categories A.Key ideas and details B.Craft and structure C.Integration of knowledge and ideas D.Range and level of text complexity

Key Ideas and Details What did the text say? Students should be able to determine what texts say explicitly and be able to summarize them (including central ideas/themes, how ideas and characters develop and interact), making logical inferences, and citing textual evidence to support conclusions.

Craft and Structure How did the text say it? Students should be able to interpret the meanings of words and phrases and the structure of texts to determine how they affect meaning or tone, and how points of view and purpose shape content and style.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas What does the text mean? What is its value? How does the text connect to other texts? Students should be able to synthesize and compare information from print and digital sources, and critically evaluate the reasoning and rhetoric of a text.

Reading Challenging Text Text difficulty is specified in the standards This means that children in grades 2-12 will be asked to read more challenging text (which means that we have to teach more challenging text than we have in the past)

Close reading Great books (challenging books) need to be read and reread Each reading should accomplish a separate purpose The first reading of a text should allow the reader to determine what a text says The second reading should allow the reader to determine how a text works The third reading should allow the reader to evaluate the quality and value of the text (and to connect the text to other texts)

Close Reading All focus on text meaning Minimize background preparation/explanation (and text apparatus) Students must do the reading/interpretation Teacher’s major role is to ask text dependent questions Multi-day commitment to texts Purposeful rereading (not practice, but separate journeys) Short reads

Why did CCSS go there? School reading has become focused on rituals rather than text-student negotiations, on general reading skill rather than sense making of particular texts Emphasis on prior knowledge and reader response had placed the attention on the reader instead of the text Teacher purpose setting had often replaced actual reading

Planning for Close Reading Select high quality text that is worth reading and rereading Teachers must read the text Necessary to determine why the text might be difficult

TEXT FEATURE/SUPPORT STRATEGY Complexity of ideas/content? Presupposed prior knowledge? Complex vocabulary? Complex sentence/syntax? Complex/unclear coherence? Genre familiarity? Complexity of text organization? Subtlety of author’s tone? Sophistication of literary devices? Sophistication of data-presentation devices? Legibility demands? Fluency challenge? Need for stair-steps text? Reading comprehension strategies?

Planning the First Reading It can help to plan the analysis of a text by developing your own questions through multiple readings Then you can decide better how many re-readings to use and how to order your questions

What does the text say? First reading Questions should help guide students to think about the most important elements of the text (the key ideas and details) Stories are about significant, meaningful conflicts (between man and nature, with others, and with oneself) Human nature and human motivation are central to the action and the meaning Questions should also clarify confusions (in this case, confusions about what the text says)

How does the text work? Second reading Questions should help guide students to think about how the text works and what the author was up to (craft and structure) Stories are written by people to teach lessons or reveal insights about the human condition in aesthetically pleasing and powerful ways Awareness of author choices are critical to coming to terms with craft and structure

What does the text mean? “Third” reading Questions should help guide students to think about what this text means to them and how it connects to other texts/stories/events/films Stories relate to other stories and to our lives Evaluations of quality (placing a text on a continuum based on quality standards) and connecting to other experiences is an essential part of the reading experience

Evaluation & Synthesis Do you know other stories like this? How were those stories similar and different? Which of these stories did you like best? Why? What did you think about how the author used literary devices? How effective were these?

Setting : Main Character: Problem: Internal Response: Attempt: Outcome: Reaction: Theme: Story Map

Setting: Main Character: Problem: Internal Response: Attempt: Outcome: Reaction: Theme: Setting: Main Character: Problem: Internal Response: Attempt: Outcome: Reaction: Theme: Multiple Perspectives

Conclusions Readers need opportunities to make sense of big ideas from a range of high quality texts Reading lessons based upon the idea of close readings requires that teachers do more to focus student attention on reading, interpreting, and evaluating text (and less on themselves and on the teacher’s interpretation)

Meeting the Challenge of Common Core: Planning Close Reading Anne A. Plancher CFN 604 October 21 st, 2014