Close Reading: A Deliberate Downshift

Jennifer McCarty Plucker, Ed.D.MRA President

Reference: Fisher and Frey www.fisherandfrey.com

Today’s Targets

We can consider why we need to redefine text/literacy

We can define Close Reading

We can examine strategies to support our students in their rereads

To be literate an individual must recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the information needed

Ultimately literate people are those who have learned how to learn....

Jennifer McCarty Plucker, Ed.D.

The Australian Library Journal August 1995

Jennifer McCarty Plucker, Ed.D.

“Think of literacy as a spine; it holds everything together. The branches of learning connect to it.”

~Phillips and Wong, 2010 cited in Focus by Schmoker

Purpose of Literacy (reading and writing)

For centuries,• Close reading/underlining and annotation of text• Discussion of the text• And writing about the text informed by close

reading, discussion, and/or annotationhave been the heart of both what we learn and how we learn, the key to acquiring both the knowledge and intellectual acumen that transform lives and overcome poverty like no other factor.

~Schmoker, 2011

Jennifer McCarty Plucker, Ed.D.

A return to “what works”

What do the experts have to say?

Handout:Comparing Leading Authors Views of Close Reading

Note Similarities/Differences across expertsPair/Share

When to and when NOT to Read Closely?

1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions

drawn from the text.

10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts

independently and proficiently. As well as select texts for personal enjoyment,

interest, and academic tasks.

“Standard 10 defines a grade-by-grade‘staircase’ of increasing text complexity that rises from beginning readingto the college and career readiness level.” (CCSS, 2010, p. 80)

Productive Struggle

Our goal with complex text is to slow the reader down.

How can we use Close Reading to provide this staircase of complexity.

Opinions, Arguments, Intertextual Connections

Inferences

Author’s Purpose

Vocab & Text Structure

Key Details

General Understandings

Background Knowledge&

Front Loading

“Activation alone, although important, doesn’t expand knowledge.” ~Fisher and Frey

Key Features:Short Complex

PassagesLimited

FrontloadingRepeated

Readings—using these multiple opportunities to model “strategic reading”

Text-Dependent Questions

Annotation

Let’s Try ItPurpose: What does Dr. Ablow believe is the psychological impact of Gangnam Style?

Annotate considering:

What is Dr. Ablow saying?Why is he saying it?HOW is he making his point?

Let’s Read it Again

Text-Dependent QuestioningText –Dependent Question Level of Complexity

What evidence does the author provide to prove that Gangnam style is the “most popular song ever on YouTube”?

General Understanding/Key Details

What genre of writing is this article? How do you know?Why does the author repeat “I know” in the last paragraph?

Text Structure and Vocabulary

Return to the “purpose for reading”--What does Dr. Ablow believe is the psychological impact of Gangnam Style?

Author’s Purpose

What conclusion can we draw from the comparisons the author makes between Gangnam Style and Blues and Soul and Rock n’ Roll?

Inferences

What examples does the author use to suggest that our “culture is abandoning meaning and feeling?”

Opinions, Arguments, Intertextual Connections

1,239,333,913. . .

Stay informed and connected at mnreading.org Like us at facebook.com/mnreads