A Close Text Reading Protocol (Short Passage of Text)
 Step 1: COLD READING. Students attempt to read the text with a minimum of
introduction. (Connection to Big Idea, Concepts, etc.) Pre-teach only necessary
vocabulary to understanding the text.
 Step 2: GIST: Students write down what they think the GIST of the text is and share with
a peer reader. Gist: What’s this about?
 Step 3: CONVERSATION about the text: What was difficult about this text? Where did
you get confused? What did you do?
 Step 4: TEACHER READS AND TALKS: Read again, and share your thinking
(metacognition) with the students. Point out the structures that might be confusing, but
that also help in making meaning:
o Teacher models and students apply close reading strategies to text:
 Substitutions: pronoun/antecedents, appositives, restatement and other
definitions in context.
 Connectors: relationship words, time and organizational words.
o Choose focus for authentic real-time language study: Parallel structures, compound
and complex elements, or use of syntax or punctuation that directly affects
comprehension of this particular text.
 Step 5: RE-READ AND SUMMARIZE:
o Students silently re-read, or orally in pairs, and revise their GIST statement,
perhaps into a summary of the main idea.
o Share and support with references in the text to support, explain or clarify. Ask:
“What made you think that?”
 Step 6: MOVE ON or Differentiate: Students now understand the text base and the
conversation can move to making connections to the topic, objective or lesson to which
it connects. Students might reread the text with a different lens, looking for argument,
details, reasons, etc. Some may read the rest of the longer text, applying the close
reading strategies, or move on to other related texts on the subject of varying
complexity levels.
*Based on research by Lily Wong Filmore, University of California at Berkeley
1
HOW TO CHOOSE TEXTS FOR CLOSE READING:
1. Decide what knowledge students will take with them to apply to the concepts being
studied, other texts and activities. What will they take away about language?
2. Complexity level may be at or above the students’ instructional level.
3. Choose texts that:
 Contain essential information on topic, concept or big idea being studied.
 Are interesting, challenging and well-written.
 Are short passages, perhaps part of a longer text. One “juicy sentence” can be the
focus for a close read.
4. Differentiate as to whether all, some or none read more of the longer text. Consider
value, purpose and students’ reading levels. Pair with another, less complex text on the
same topic.
2
GETTING INTO
COMPLEX TEXT
CCSA CONFERENCE MARCH 2013
LOUISE BURNER
ONSLOW COUNTY SCHOOLS
That’s the
Ticket…
To
Comprehension
THE PROBLEM
ƒSystems
S t
have
h
b
been around
d ffor
avoiding
g instead of embracing
g
complex text in the classroom.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
ƒHow
H
can we h
help
l students
t d t
gain confidence and skill in
accessing complex text, while
also encouraging them to read
widely on their own reading
levels?
WHY READING IN GRADES 4
4-12?
12?
ƒDon’t
D ’t they
th already
l
d know
k
how
h
to
t
read?
ƒWhat are we asking them to do
as readers?
d ?
ƒWhat
What do the Common Core State
Standards say about the
i
importance
t
off reading?
di g?
COLLEGE AND CAREER ANCHOR
STANDARDS FOR READING
ƒ 10. Read and comprehend complex literary and
informational texts independently and proficiently.
ƒ Establishes a Grade-by Grade “staircase” of text
complexity.
STRUGGLING READERS
ƒHow d
ƒH
do you recognize
g i struggling
t ggli g
readers in your classes?
ƒWhat kinds of reading to you ask
them to do and for what purpose?
LET’S
LET
S READ A SHORT TEXT
ƒAs you read,
read think about the
strategies you use to comprehend
text.
ƒRead only the first paragraph and
then write a short statement of
the Gist of the text .
PAIR-SHARE
PAIR
SHARE
ƒShare
Sh
your Gi
Gistt with
ith a partner.
t
ƒDiscuss and adjust your Gist if
necessary.
WERE YOU A STRUGGLING READER?
ƒWhatt did it feel
ƒWh
f l like
lik and
dh
how did you
react?
ƒWhat strategies did you use to try to
understand the text?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO COMPREHEND A
TEXT?
ƒ Walter Kintsch’s
Construction-Integration
C
t
ti
I t g ti
Model
M d l off
Comprehension
TEXT
BASE
+
SITUATIONAL
MODEL
=
MENTAL MODEL /
COMPREHENSION
BUT
BUT…
ƒ What if they cannot read the text?
ƒ Do we:
ƒ offer leveled texts that theyy can access independently?
p
y
ƒ provide scaffolds…reading guides and other
strategies for them to extract the information form
th ttext?
the
t?
Or…
ƒ Do we also provide direct instructional experiences
with complex texts?
BASIC TEXT-BASE STRATEGIES
FOR CLOSE READING
1. Str
1
Struggle
ggle for GIST
2. Hear the text Read Fluently
3. Investigate Pronoun and Other
Substitutions
4. Investigate Connecting Words
5 Examine Specifics Demand of
5.
this Text.
6. Reread.
DIRECT READING INSTRUCTION WITH
SHORT PIECES OF TEXT
ƒ What text?
ƒ How much?
ƒ For what purpose?
ƒ What will the student learn that can be transferred to the next
text?
¾ Dr. Lily Wong Filmore of University of California Berkeley,
calls this piece of Instructional Complex Text a “Juicy
Sentence.”
PRONOUNS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
ƒWhatt ki
ƒWh
kinds
d off words
d are substituted
b tit t d
for other words besides
Nouns/Pronouns?
ƒ See the text example:
HOW CAN WE HELP?
ƒ Mrs. Franks, the second teacher Myra had had for third grade so
far this year, was a veteran teacher who had also traveled around
the world. Consequently, she would share the numerous artifacts
she had collected on her journeys with her students.
students Today,
Today
however, Myra’s instructor brought her oldest daughter, Alysha,
to class to talk about her experiences in Jamaica. At first, the
recent college graduate told the class that she had spent the
past year there
h
working
ki
with
i h young children,
hild
teaching
hi
them
h
reading and arithmetic. At the end, she showed them the colorful
masks and textiles she had brought back. After the presentation,
the precocious third grader wanted to know if she could help
Alysha teach the next time she went back to Jamaica instead of
having to stay here in her mother’s class.
ƒB
Before
f
looking
l ki g closely
l
l att this
thi text,
t t how
h
complex
l
would
ld you h
have
said this text is? Does it seem more or less complex now?
CONNECTORS
ƒ Words and phrases that show the connections and
relationships between words, phrases, clauses, sentences
and even paragraphs.
ƒ Without them, even more inferences are required of the
reader.
ƒ Many struggling readers skip or ignore these seemingly
meaningless words
ƒ And,
A d but,
b t or, nor, because,
b
after,
ft
as, when,
h
however,
h
since, nevertheless, while, as if, as a result, if, that, so,
thus …
FOUR RELATIONSHIPS
Robert Marzano identifies Four relationships between ideas:
Connectors often determine the relationships between ideas in
a text.
ƒ Addition: One idea is equal to or adds to another idea. She is
young and athletic.
ƒ Contrast: One idea does not go with or subtracts from
another.
h
Sh can run b
She
but iis not on the
h track
k team.
ƒ Time: One idea occurs before, during or after another idea.
The bus lef t af ter the team loaded up.
ƒ Cause:
C
One
O
idea
id
causes another.
th
Th
They
were h
hopeful
f l b
because
they had beaten this team before.
INVESTIGATE
TEXT STRUCTURE AND SYNTAX
ƒDetermined by the complexity of the text
itself: What makes this text difficult?
ƒOften depends on the Subject/ Discipline
of the text:
ƒFiction vs. Informational
ƒScience vs. Social Sciences
ƒTextbook vs. Periodical
ƒHard Copy vs. Online
BACK TO BUTTERFLIES
ƒWhatt d
ƒWh
does th
the reader
d need
d to
t k
know
to make sense of this text? What
knowledge will transfer to other
texts?
REREAD AND REVISE GIST
Now having taken a closer look at the text,
how much easier is it to make meaning?
HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE?
ƒEveryone participates in direct instruction of
complex texts!...but then what?
¾Read with different lenses
¾Read for different purposes
¾Read different amounts of a text
¾Paired vs. individual reading
¾Use sets of texts on same subject/concept
IT’S
IT
S A BALANCE
Complexity of Text
and
Complexity of Task
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
ƒWhat words
ords would
o ld the reader need to be
sure to understand to read the first
paragraph of Butterflies?
¾Think of Tier Two words ((words used in informational text and
that transfer to text in other contents and situations.)
¾Notice the words that they do not need to know the definition
of to understand the text.
WORDS IN CONTEXT VS.
VS WORD STUDY
ƒ Attacking Complex Text : Brief conversations about key
words, or simple definitions precede initial and secondary
reading. What words do they need to get the Gist of the text?
ƒ Word Study : follows with research-based strategies for
investigating word families, synonyms and antonyms, creating
visuals and connecting words with concepts. How can
students learn and hold new words?
APPLY TO A NEW TEXT
ƒ One paragraph
ƒ Read
ƒ Write and share Gist with a reading partner.
partner
ƒ Determine what is difficult about this text and what
language focus would help your students access this
text.
ƒ What two words would you define before they read?
INFORMATION AND TRANSFER
WHAT TEXTS?
ƒInformation:
I f
ti
Wh iinformation
What
f
i
or
understanding will students gain from
reading
di this
thi ttext?
t?
ƒStrategies
g : What text-base strategy(s)
will help the reader comprehend this text?
ƒKnowledge about Language:
What can
students take from reading this text that will
make tthem better
tt readers?
READING REQUIRED FOR GROW TH IN
VOCABULARY, FLUENCY AND READING LEVEL
ƒRead Widely and Deeply
ƒIndependent
Independent Reading
ƒ Recreational/ interest choice
ƒ For information to learn deeply about topics and subjects
ƒ Supported and Scaffolded group and peer reading.
Conversations about reading, making connections and
meaning.
i
ƒ Direct Instruction of Close Reading
g with complex
p
texts.
Getting Into Complex Text: That’s the Ticket… to Comprehension
CCSA Conference
Greensboro, North Carolina
March, 2013
Louise A. Burner, Onslow County Schools
Rationale:
All students must gain access to complex texts! Without multiple opportunities to struggle with
authentic texts and to develop powerful academic vocabulary, students will not develop confidence
and capacity as readers. This session offers a technique for close reading of short texts – often a
single “juicy” sentence.
We teach students to use strategies to unlock text and assign vocabulary study to beef up their
word knowledge. So, why does ACT find that only 51% of the students who take the ACT test
perform at or above the Gateway score for reading complex texts? This score correlates with
success in college and the workplace and the numbers who reach it have been declining in this
decade.
Grant Wiggins theorizes that one problem is that teachers tend to over-scaffold for complex texts.
We want to make it easy for students to access text, but grappling with difficult text is necessary for
them to grasp what makes the text complex. Only then are students ready to apply and practice
strategies as we gradually release them to work independently. Wiggins and David Liben make the
case that this is most effective in developing independent readers and in building their confidence
and capacity. We should help them ask, “What does this text have to offer?” and “How do I get at
it?” The goal is for the strategies to be tools; the texts, chosen for their worth, rigor, and connection
to topics and concepts being studied, are the focus. Jay McTighe puts it simply, “Teacher-led
reading strategies are like training wheels that eventually get taken off… This rarely happens on its
own.” Teachers must be deliberate in putting carefully chosen texts before students that initially
create discomfort and dissonance, and that require hard work.
The Common Core Standards for ELA and Literacy require students to independently make meaning
from increasingly complex texts as they progress through grades K-12. Posing text-dependent
questions, and following up every response with, “What in the text says that?” keeps them in the
text, not around the text. Multiple experiences with close reading of complex text may reverse the
trend of falling reading scores and rising dropout rates.
Short pieces of text, often one worthy sentence full of information, attitude and complex language,
can be the subject of a close read. Through regular experience with these “juicy sentences,” as Dr.
Lily Wong Filmore dubbed them, students can develop confidence, stamina and habits of mind with
which they can successfully unlock the code of complex language on their own.
Sample Text: 1 Mrs. Franks, the second teacher Myra had had for third grade so far this 2 year, was a veteran teacher who had also traveled around the world. 3 Consequently, she would share the numerous artifacts she had collected on 4 her journeys with her students. Today, however, Myra’s instructor brought 5 her oldest daughter, Alysha, to class to talk about her experiences in 6 Jamaica. At first, the recent college graduate told the class that she had 7 spent the past year there working with young children, teaching them 8 reading and arithmetic. At the end, she showed them the colorful masks 9 and textiles she had brought back. After the presentation, the precocious 10 third grader wanted to know if she could help Alysha teach the next time 11 she went back to Jamaica instead of having to stay here in her mother’s 12 class.