Linda Feaman - Unlocking Close Reading

Unlocking Close Reading
By Linda Feaman and Nancy Geldermann

2015. Linda Feaman and Nancy Geldermann. All rights reserved.

Cover Design: Sandra D'Antonio
Book Design: Jodi Pedersen

Image Credits:
All cover and interior images from Shutterstock

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cataloging-in-publication information is on file with the Library of Congress.

978-1-62521-928-2 (pbk.)
978-1-62521-938-1 (eBook PDF)
978-1-62521-952-7 (eBook)

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DEDICATION

for Scott and Jerry

PREFACE:
A Note from the Authors

The beginnings of this book took place in the classroom. After developing the lessons and process of implementation and sharing it with teachers and administrators, the resounding response was always, You should write a book! This book is an answer to the request for standards-based, teacher- and student-friendly close reading lessons that are ready for use.

We often search the words of others for inspiration and to best express our own message. The following quotes encapsulate and synthesize the essence of this book and the very art and craft of teaching reading.

Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
Edmund Burke

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
Sir Richard Steele

A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it.
Samuel Johnson

To teach is to learn twice.
Joseph Joubert

So let us teach students to truly digest what they have read by exercising their minds through purposefully designed lessons. Let us learn how to help transmit what an author has to say about a topic and facilitate the transaction between the writer and the reader of the text. Finally, let us create opportunities for our students by making them capable of truly understanding what they have read.

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.
W. Fusselman

Linda Feaman
Nancy Geldermann

INTRODUCTION:
Unlocking Close Reading

Overview

This book is intended as a guide to facilitate effective and insightful implementation of close reading. The Common Core State Standards has given educators a cohesive and complete set of expectations for instruction and learning designed to prepare students for college and career readiness. An underlying skill woven through all aspects of the Common Core is that of close reading. In fact, 80 to 90 percent of the reading standards in each grade require text dependent analysis. An essential understanding requisite is that close reading is a transaction between the reader and the text. Our mission then, as educators, is to teach students to read closely to uncover the true essence of what an author has to say about a given topic. The lessons in this book teach students to unlock the central idea of a passage and thus complete the transaction.

The goal of this book is to provide a better understanding of the process of close reading for teachers and administrators alike. The hardest parts of facilitating any new initiative are coming to a clear understanding of its components and becoming knowledgeable enough to implement them successfully in the classroom setting. Herein we offer a complete set of first steps to close the gap between knowing we have work to do and knowing how to do it.

These lessons are Common Core-aligned and standards based. They are designed to move students through the rigorous process of close reading and to help them become critical thinkers capable of unlocking and extracting key meanings and ideas found within the various materials they read. Each lesson engages students in complex informational text. Text-dependent questions have been carefully designed with deliberate scaffolding to provide differentiation for all students, including those with special needs as well as second language learners.

Close reading leads students to deep, important meanings that can be found within a text worth reading. The basic components of the close-reading process include:

Careful and purposeful rereading.

Focusing on what the author has to say.

Focusing on the authors point of view.

Analyzing how the words add meaning to the text.

Focusing on text-dependent questions that are designed to allow students to think about the structure of the text and how it impacts their understanding of it.

An important additional feature of this book is the inclusion of tools to assess student learning. It is critical to note that reading and writing in the Common Core are closely connected, and with this in mind, we have added an integral writing component. This component has been designed to assess students' understanding of what they have read and to measure their ability to move from oral to written discourse.

Each lesson includes:

Grade-level appropriate, complex informational text for close reading

Reproducible copy of text for students

Teacher Discussion Guide that facilitates discussion and differentiation, which is a copy of the text that includes text-dependent questions embedded and annotated alongside the body of the student text

Prompts designed to facilitate student writing of constructed-response paragraphs

Teacher rubrics to drive instruction

Exemplars designed to illustrate and further advance understanding of expected performance

Student-friendly checklists for self-assessment, reflection, and feedback

Function of Each Section of the Book

1. Introduction: Unlocking Close Reading: explanation of close reading and the instructional process presented in the book.

2. Overview of a Close Reading Lesson: explanation of each part of the lessons included in the book.

3. Close Reading Lesson Procedure: step-by-step explanation of the lesson procedure.

4. Overview of Lesson Grade Levels and Text Complexity: scope of text complexity and suggested grade level of lessons.

5. Lessons: twelve close reading lessons that include:

Reproducible student texts

Teacher Discussion Guides

Writing prompts and annotated exemplars

6. Appendix: includes prewriting organizers, writing rubrics, student checklists, and glossary.

7. Master List of Capstone Mentor Texts: list of Capstone Classroom publications used as sources for student texts.

How to Use This Book

Read the Overview of a Close Reading Lesson (page 12), and then read several different student texts above and below a specific grade level to gain an understanding of the continuum of text complexity that builds from lesson to lesson. Take several things into consideration before choosing an introductory lesson: students instructional level, students discussion and thinking skill levels, and how to get the most use from the lessons provided in this book.

The best introductory text is one that can be read easily, but still requires high levels of cognitive demand to uncover the central idea. The goal of an introductory lesson is to introduce the thinking processes required for successful close reading. Choosing an easier text for the first lesson will help students spend their time thinking about the text rather than struggling to read it.