The What, Why and How of Close Reading: How coaches can help. Presented by: Joseph Ginotti PLN Director University of Pennsylvania Diane Hubona PIIC Mentor,IU 8 and 10 Redelivered by: Kathleen Eich PIIC Mentor, IU 15

Essential Questions What are the shifts in the core standards that lead us to close reading and text-dependent analysis? What skills do students need to master to respond to a text-dependent analysis question? What is close reading and why is it so critical? How can we coach teachers in the instruction of close reading? What does close reading look like? What are the steps in creating a question that requires Text-Dependent Analysis? 2

What is Close Reading? A close reading is a careful and purposeful reading…it’s rereading. It’s a careful and purposeful rereading of a text. It’s an encounter with the text where students really focus on what the author had to say, what the author’s purpose was, what the words mean, and what the structure of the text tells us. It is what Louise Rosenblatt, the originator of Reader- Response Theory, talked about as a transaction between the reader and the text: it’s about understanding what the author had to say and bringing some of your own ideas to bear on that text. 3

What is Close Reading? In a close reading, students must reread the text. We give them questions; text dependent questions that require that they go back into the text and search for answers. These aren’t simply recall questions, just the facts of the text, but rather questions that allow students to think about the text, and the author’s purpose, the structure, and the flow of the text. Close reading requires that students actually think and understand what they are reading. Dr. Douglas Fisher Professor of Language and Literacy Education Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University Consultant to PARCC 4

Why Close Reading? A significant body of research links the close reading of complex text—whether the student is a struggling reader or advanced— to significant gains in reading proficiency and finds close reading to be a key component of college and career readiness Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers,

Why Close Reading? Grappling with rich, complex texts is an exciting, thought- expanding experience that can change minds and mold beliefs. Repeated opportunities to process and manage such texts enhance the reader’s knowledge of vocabulary, syntax, and the world—an experience all students should have. Historically, though, this approach has been reserved for our more advanced students; those deemed less able have been denied access to rich, rigorous text. Teachers who have implemented Close Reading in their classrooms are finding that being challenged by complex texts is not, as they feared, tripping students up; on the contrary, it is actually motivating students to work harder and think more deeply. “Implementing the PA Core Standards: A Primer on “Close Reading of Text” (adapted from Close Reading-Aspen Institute, 2012) 6

How coaches can nurture Close Reading What Teachers need: o A consistency of vision and practice o An understanding of opportunity o The necessity of modeling o The need to scaffold o The role of feedback 7

How coaches can nurture Close Reading A consistency of vision and practice: The structure: o Read around the text o Read strategically o Reread deeply and with purpose 8 The skills: o Fluency o Text marking o Annotating o Questioning o Clarifying o Drawing conclusions o Making judgments

How coaches can nurture Close Reading A consistency of vision and practice: The text: o Text complexity o Issues of fluency o Informational and Literary o Length and Access o Prior knowledge The questions: o Inference, inference, inference o Depth of knowledge o Textual support o Open-ended 9

How coaches can nurture Close Reading An understanding of opportunity : Across content areas Related to content Learning opportunity Integrated within the curriculum 10

How coaches can nurture Close Reading The importance of modeling and scaffolding : Deliberate, intentional, transparent Lesson structure:  B/D/A or Model of Engagement Chunking Sharing Charting 11

How coaches can nurture Close Reading The importance of feedback : Evaluation vs. Feedback Timely Specific Time for revision Practice to reinforce 12

A Time to Reflect As a coach or school leader, what can you do with this information? 13 Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. Peter Drucker

You Heard the Research…How Do We Use This as a Coach? Free Write! 4 things you learned (Pair/share) 2 things that impact you as a coach 1 new learning you will use as a coach

Short, complex passages Repeated reading Annotation Collaborative conversations about the text, including argumentation Text-dependent questions Features of Close Reading

Steps to Close Reading? Close Reading dives right in without any pre-reading activities

First Read… Key Ideas and Details Scrape the surface in this reading, focusing on key ideas and details— reading for the gist Readers then discuss in small groups or with pair/share partners This discussion allows checking for understanding of what was read as the teacher monitors

Second Read… Craft and Structure This time, the reader digs a little deeper Rereading a paragraph or chunk focusing on text features, organizational patterns, and content vocabulary the author included Normally, one or more text- dependent questions will guide the second reading

Third Read… Integration of Knowledge & Ideas This read requires the reader to synthesize and analyze information Readers record their thinking in writing Seeing the reader’s thoughts in writing is the best way to assess whether the reader has a thorough understanding of the text

What Text Works Best? Short, complex passages for practice Text that has clear main ideas and supporting details Text that has conventional sentence structure and grammar Text that requires minimal background knowledge for success Text that offers new ideas that will help readers gain a deeper understanding of the text

Relationship Between DOK and Types of Text-Dependent Questions What does the text say? General understanding, key details—levels 1,2 How does the text work? Vocabulary, structure, author’s craft—levels 2,3 What does the text mean? Author’s purpose, intertextual connections—levels 2,3,4 What does the text inspire you to do? Opinion with evidence or argument—levels 3,4

Let’s Try It!

Words as Free as Confetti by Pat Mora Read 1 — read for the gist Pair/share discussion

Read 2 Vocabulary— What is the tone of the piece? How do we know? Point out specific words or phrases. Structure— What is confetti? How does the idea of “confetti” reappear in the lines of the poem? Author’s Craft— Find similes in the poem. How does the author use similes to make her poem more vivid?

Read 3 Author’s Purpose— Does the author think of words as a good or bad thing? How do you know? Use specific lines from the poem to inform your thinking? Intertextual Connections— Imagine this poem without the use of Spanish words and phrases. How would the meaning of the poem change? Why?

Opinion with Evidence or Argument Do you think words can set you free as Mora suggests in the poem? Using evidence from this text, write an argument for or against the power of words. Do they really have the ability to do everything Mora says they do? Be sure to support your claims with specific details.

Coaching Resources Coaching Resources teaching/2013/04/investigating-nonfiction-part-2-digging- deeper-close-reading teaching/2013/04/investigating-nonfiction-part-2-digging- deeper-close-reading reading.htm reading.htm