1. Close Reading Strategies for Middle School Readers
Instructional suggestions based on Falling In love with close reading by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts
MEG GLEASON
UPPER FREEHOLD REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

2. Close Reading, A Love Story
Reading closely was, “…the process of trying to tune out everything else while looking at the style, words, meter, structure, and so on, of a piece of writing – letting the text itself shine through” (2).
CCSS R.1, R.3, R.4, R.5, R.6, R.9

3. What is Close Reading?
It is an interaction between the reader and a text
It is about making careful observations of a text and then interpretations of those observations
It often involves rereading; rereading short portions of text that help readers to carry new ideas to the whole class

4. Powerful Close Reading Instruction
Is NOT giving students a complex text then forcing them to read it again and again until they understand it.
Close reading requires clear, engaging, transferable and responsive instruction

5. Teaching Within a Close Reading Ritual to Build Independence
First, read through lenses
Use lenses to find patterns
Use the patterns to develop a new understanding of the text

6. The Essence of Understanding: A Study of Text Evidence
There are ways to describe text evidence and ideas in narratives
Precise thinking is critical
This helps students to transfer skills to their independent practice in more powerful ways
I’m going to pay attention to descriptions of the setting
I’m going to consider the type of relationship these characters have (see fig. 2.2, p. 12)
Gather evidence, then develop an idea
CCSS R.1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical references from it

7. Closely Reading Media: Engage Students Through Popular Songs and Text Evidence
Example song: Boyfriend, by Justin Bieber
Have students listen to song, then look at the lyrics
When students read the lyrics closely, they notice that the narrator mostly talks about how much money he has and what he can do with it
Students can then recognize that songs, like books and people, have messages they want to send out into the world

8. More Than Just “Because”: Closely Reading Narrative Texts to Analyze Evidence and Meaning
The ritual for reading a text closely:
Deciding what to carefully look for
Finding what these things have in common
Stepping back and seeing what new understanding this gives you about the text
Look for patterns, and be specific: say both what you see and the quality of it

9. Reading closely for text evidence: Read through lenses
Choose specific details to gather as data:
What characters/people say, think and do
Relationships
Setting descriptions
Time period
Which details fit together?
How do they fit together?

10. Use Patterns to Develop a New Understanding of the Text
Look at patterns to think about:
Characters/People’s
Feelings
Traits
Relationships
Whole Text
Themes
Lessons

11. Phrases for Reflecting on Text Evidence and Meaning

12. A Way With Words – A Study of Word Choice
RL 4: By the end of the grade, students can “…interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text” (CCSS).
The goal is to have students start describing both what a text is about and noticing how it’s written
Students should refer to the author more often

13. Reading Closely for Word Choice
Read Through Lenses
Choose specific words to gather
Words that evoke
Strong emotions
Strong images
A clear idea
Use lenses to find patterns
Which words fit together?
How do they fit together?
Use the patterns to develop a new understanding
Think about an author’s
Tone
Purpose
Relationship to the subject
Central idea

14. Closely Reading Media – Engage Students Through TV Ads and Word Choice
Lesson idea
Have a video clip ready of an ad that is aimed at your students’ age range.
Show two clips that can be compared
Use print ads from teen magazines or style section of a pop-culture magazine

15. Closely Reading Media – Engage Students Through TV Ads and Word Choice
Set up student response to word choice in an ad:
Draw students’ attention to word choice and tone
Words
Impact
Idea

16. Frames for Thinking About Word Choice
Seeing patterns
One pattern I see is ___________ with words like ______
Some words fit together, like ___ and make me feel ______
These words fit together because they sound___________
The author could have _____but instead_____________
There seems to be more than one pattern____ and also____

17. Additional Lessons for Providing Extra Support
Reflect on text difficulty through word choice
Use tangible scaffolds to support building ideas
Use text evidence to refine ideas
Find symbols in patterns
Compare texts based on craft choices

18. Closely Reading Life – Looking at Word Choice in Our Lives
Study social language
Study “other” texts
Study the words we choose
Run experiments on authoring new patterns