Planning for
A Close
Read
“Close reading is an
instructional routine in
which students critically
examine a text, especially
through repeated
readings.”
- Fisher & Frey
Jill Liapis
Jliapis@s-cook.org
Links for documents @ www.s-cook.org
Planning for a Close Read
Use a short passage or excerpt
 “Read with a pencil”
 Note what is confusing
 Pay attention to patterns
 Give your students the chance to
struggle a bit knowing that you will
scaffold support throughout the
routine

Text Complexity
Text complexity is defined by:
Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure,
language conventionality and clarity, and
knowledge demands often best measured by an
attentive human reader.
Quantitative measures – readability and other scores
of text complexity often best measured by
computer software.
Reader and Task considerations – background
knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and
complexity generated by tasks assigned often best
made by educators employing their professional
judgment.
http://youtu.be/Q0uZwDP6cGo
CCSS, Appendix A
Text-Dependent Questions
“Rigorous, text-dependent questions require
students to demonstrate that they can follow
the details of what is explicitly stated and
make valid claims and inferences that square
with the evidence in the text.”
PARCC Model Content Frameworks, 2011
Discussion
An active, constructive, and
social process for learning
“In the last 25 years or so, research has provided
significant evidence that collaborative academic talk is
at the heart of the learning experience.”
Carmen SimichDudgeon, 1998
“Talk , like reading and writing, is a major motor—I
could even say THE major motor– of intellectual
development.”
Lucy Calkins, 2001
The Lesson Plan Format
Opinions, Arguments & Intertextual Connections
Inferences
Purpose
Vocabulary & Text Structure
Key Details
General Understanding
Routines
General Understandings
Key Details
Vocabulary & Text Structure
Inferences
Purpose
Opinions, Arguments & Intertextual
Connections
Establish Purpose
1st Reading & 1st Discussion
2nd Reading & 2nd Discussion
3rd Reading &
Potential Prose Constructed Response
Establish Purpose
• Explain the purpose of the read
• Students need to know prior to reading that
this is an opportunity for a Close Read
1st Reading
• Students read independently
• Students annotate text
• Teacher observes students’ annotations and
looks for patterns
1st Discussion
• Turn & Talk to Check Meaning
• Encourage Students’ to reference
text annotations during discussion
• Get the gist of
the text
• Focus on the
author’s main
claim
General Understanding
General
Understanding
• What is the
same about
the front
and back of
the penny?
General
Understanding
• Why would
unsweetened
chocolate be
changed?
General
Understanding
• What are the
dangers of an
avalanche?
• Focus on important
details
• Often who, what, where,
when, why or how
Key Details
Key Details
Why do
we honor
Abraham
Lincoln?
Key Details
• What ingredients
make the three
types of chocolate?
Key Details
• What 2 ways can
avalanches
occur? Which is
the most
dangerous and
why?
2nd Reading
• Teacher reads aloud the text
• Students listen
• Students continue to annotate
2nd Reading
“Because challenging texts do not give up their
meanings easily, it is essential that readers re-read
such texts.”
Tim Shanahan, 2013
“The close = re-read + worthy assumption here is
critical: we assume that a rich text simply cannot be
understood and appreciated by a single read, no matter
how skilled and motivated the reader.”
Grant Wiggin, 2013
http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com
2nd Discussion
• Students’ revisit table talk
• Students’ share and participate in
whole class discussion
• Consider how the reading is
organized
• Vocab includes denotations
(definitions) & connotations
(ideas or feelings evoked)
• Why the author chose the
word…
Vocabulary & Text Structure
Vocabulary
&
Text Structure
How does the
author let you
know the
meaning of the
word carved?
Vocabulary
&
Text Structure
• How does the author
help you understand
the meaning of vary in
the 2nd paragraph?
Vocabulary &
Text Structure
•
What is the meaning of the
word faces as used in
paragraph 6?
• Inform, entertain,
persuade or explain
something
• Allows the reader to follow
the flow of the reading
Purpose
Purpose
What is the
author’s purpose
of writing this text?
Purpose
• Why did the author
write this article?
• AKA – What is the
author’s purpose of
writing this article?
Purpose
What is the authors
intended purpose for writing
this text? How do you know
that this is the purpose.
Use evidence to support
your answer.
• Require reading of the whole
selection
• Consider where the text is
going
• Reconsider key points as
contributing to the whole
Inferences
Inferences
Why is the author
telling us about
the penny,
memorial and
Mount
Rushmore?
Inferences
• Why do purists not
consider white
chocolate a
chocolate?
Inferences
• How does the author
informing you of the
types of avalanches
help you understand
the dangers of an
avalanche?
3rd Reading
• Teacher Led Reading with Text
Dependent Questions
• Opportunity for a Prose
Constructed Response
Opinions, Arguments & Intertextual Connections
• Used sparingly
• Used after multiple reads and
opportunities to expand
understanding
Opinions,
Arguments &
Intertextual
Connections
Why or why
not???
Should Abraham
Lincoln be on the
penny?
Support you
answer with
evidence.
Opinions,
Arguments &
Intertextual
Connections
• Are purists right
with believing that
white chocolate is
not chocolate?
Opinions,
Arguments &
Intertextual
Connections
•
OPINIONS, ARGUMENTS,
INTERTEXTUAL CONNECTIONS
•
How would this article impact
your desire to participate in
snow sports? Use evidence
from the text to support your
answer.
Questions