1. No Fear Close Reading Thinking More Deeply about Texts …and Life
Sue Myette
Literacy Support Teacher, Issaquah School District
4th Grade Edition

2. Our learning targets
I can explain in simple terms what close reading is and why it’s good for students.
I can read closely to deepen my own understanding of a text.
I can select a text for close reading instruction and outline a lesson plan resulting in deep student comprehension.
Ask what else participants hope to get out of our time together…

3. What does Close Reading mean to you?
Think about what your own experiences with close reading
Heard about it
Read about it
Intentionally tried it
Expert in it
If you had to choose an object to symbolize close reading, what would it be?

4. Experts have a lot to say
Focus on commonalities & highlight differences of opinion
Commonalities: short complex text, limited frontloading, purposeful rereading, text-dependent questions, annotation
Differences: Fisher & Frey prescribe a specific focus for each read, while others are more flexible
Key Ideas & Details (what the text says)
Craft & Structure (how the text works)
Integration (what the text means)
…but they don’t always agree.

5. What Close Reading is not
New
Formulaic
Done alone
Limited to fiction
Appropriate for all texts
An approach to use every day
Limited to printed words on a page

6. We “read” closely all the time
What’s the first thing you notice about this scene? Look again—what else do you see? What conclusions can draw from your evidence?

7. Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa by George Catlin
4th grade picture
What is happening? Setting (time and place)? Evidence

8. What are the relationships between the various people shown in this painting? Evidence

9. How are these Native Americans feeling
How are these Native Americans feeling? What do you think is Catlin’s message / reason for painting this? evidence

10. Why read closely?
Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational text. (ELA claim 1)
Close reading gives students the meaning- seeking tools to get more out of texts and out of life.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
-Socrates

11. 4th Grade Example: Casey at the Bat
Imagine that we have already:
Read stanzas 1-5 together
Verbally summarized what happened, then annotated 1-5
Used text evidence to predict what was going to happen: Casey would hit a home run to win the game because he was “mighty” and the crowd would “put up even money” (bet on him)
Read stanzas 6-13 with a partner to find out what happened, annotating the gist of each stanza
Please read the poem and annotations before we proceed.

12. Questions about the poem
What is the outcome of the game?
What kind of person is Casey?
Reread stanzas 6-13 and underline evidence of what Casey says and does.
What patterns can you find?
What does Thayer do to create suspense and surprise?
Reread the poem through this lens and annotate to show your findings.
What do you think is the message of this poem?

13. Hallmarks of Close Reading
Short, worthy text
Limited front-loading
Purposeful rereading using specific lenses
Layered, text-dependent questions
Annotating—Reading with a pencil
Collaborative conversations
After-reading task to consolidate new, deeper understanding

14. Types of Lenses Story elements Word choice Point of view / argument
Structure
Point of view / argument
Comparison across texts

15. Now you try it
Read the text several times to determine what comprehension skills or deep understanding you want to focus on.
Plan your purpose for each reading:
Gist
A lens to scaffold the big ideas
Another lens to help with the deeper understanding
Write your text-dependent questions
Decide on an after-reading task
Text Choices
Informational: Teammates excerpt
Narrative: Out of My Mind excerpt
Poem: Words Free as Confetti

16. Let’s Share

17. Avoiding traps and pitfalls
Keep the larger goal in mind
It’s NOT to teach the text
It IS to teach students to reread and annotate independently whenever they encounter complex text
Let the text determine your questions
What does the text beg you to explore?
You need to know the text deeply
Don’t rush to save your students
Let them grapple with the text and experience the reward of new insight through deep thinking

18. How did we do?
I can explain in simple terms what close reading is and why it’s good for students.
I can read closely to deepen my own understanding of a text.
I can select a text for close reading instruction and outline a lesson plan resulting in deep student comprehension.
Ask what else participants hope to get out of our time together…