Close Reading
Background from Douglas Fisher
Our Ongoing Goal
• To ensure all
students are
career and
college ready
Background from Douglas Fisher
Connections to the AWSP Framework
• Creating a Culture
– 1.1 Develops and sustains focus on a shared mission and
clear vision for improvement of learning and teaching.
– 1.2 Engages in essential conversations for ongoing
improvement.
• Aligning Curriculum
– 4.2 Alignment of best instructional practices to state and
district learning goals.
• Improving Instruction
– 5.3 Assists staff in implementing effective instruction and
assessment practices.
Where We’ve Been
• Administrators:
– Introduction to Common Core State
Standards
– Understanding the Structure of the
ELA document
– Vertical Articulation of the ELA
Standards
Where We’ve Been
• Literacy Committee(K-12 Teachers) Examined:
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Argumentative Writing
Narrative Writing
Explanatory/Informative Writing
SBAC Assessment Claims
Reading/Writing Integration Possibilities
Speaking and Listening
Text Complexity
Close Reading
Where We’ve Been
• CAT2 ELA Group (K-12 Teaches) Examined:
– Argumentative Writing
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Narrative Writing
Explanatory/Informative Writing
SBAC Assessment Claims
Reading/Writing Integration Possibilities
Speaking and Listening
Text Complexity
Where We’ve Been
• High School CTE Teachers
– Understanding the structure of
the document
– Revising CTE unit plans to include
CCSS goals
Where We’ve Been
• District Librarians
– Text Complexity
– Knowledge in the Disciplines (Content Reading)
– Distribution of Texts
Where We’ve Been
Summer Institutes
• Unpacking the CCSS (summer 2012)
• Creating CCSS aligned units (Summer 2013)
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Understanding by Design
Teacher Checklist
Correlate current ELD Standards into unit design
Student Checklist
Student Rubric
Performance task creation (Summative Assessment)
Today’s Goal
•Engage staff in collegial conversations
regarding close reading
•Identify the components of close
reading and make connections to current
literacy practices
•Evaluate a close reading lesson
Close Reading is not…
Andrea and Gilberto passed an ice cream shop
every day when they walked home from
school. Every Friday they brought money to
_______ and stopped at the ice cream
_________ to buy a double-dip ice cream
___________. One ________ Gilberto forgot
to bring ________ money and when they got
to __________ ice cream shop, he said, “Oh
no. I can’t buy an ice cream _________ today.”
Close Reading is….
“Close Reading – an intensive
analysis of a text in order to
come to terms with what it
says, how it says it, and what it
means.”
Tim Shanahan
Close Reading is….
“Focused, sustained reading and
rereading of a text for the
purpose of understanding key
points, gathering evidence,
and building knowledge.
Pearson, page 48
Primary Purpose of Close Reading
The primary objective of a close reading
is to afford students with the
opportunity to assimilate new textual
information with their existing
background knowledge and prior
experiences to expand their schema.
Doug Fisher
Secondary Purpose of Close Reading
A second purpose of a close reading is
to build the necessary habits of readers
when they engage with a complex
piece of text.
Doug Fisher
Anchor Standard 9
Anchor Standard 8
Anchor Standard 7
Anchor Standard 6
Anchor Standard 5
Anchor Standard 4
Anchor Standard 3
Anchor Standard 2
How To Do A Close Read
• Read with a pencil in hand – annotate the text
• Look for patterns in the things you’ve noticed
about the text – repetitions, contradictions,
similarities
– This is whatever the teacher wants the students to
look for: key ideas & details, central message or
theme, character traits, etc
• Ask questions about the patterns you’ve
noticed – especially how and why
Annotation is a note of
any form made while
reading text.
“Reading with a pencil.”
Annotation slows
down the
reader in order to
deepen
understanding.
People have been annotating
texts since there have been
texts to annotate.
Annotation is not highlighting.
Close Reading of
Charlotte’s Web
CCSS Standards:
We are Learning To…
• Ask and answer questions about our reading by using the text to support our
answers (RL.3.1)
• Recount stories to determine theme (RL. 3.2)
• Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a story (RL. 3.4)
Language Objectives:
We are Learning To….
Use sketches, words, phrases, simple or descriptive sentences to represent the
sequence of the story (R. 2.2.1 and 2.2.3)
Use words, phrases, simple or descriptive sentences and specialized vocabulary
to draw conclusions supported from text (R.2.4.1)
Close Reading of
Charlotte’s Web
Read Charlotte’s Web Chapter 1 to
get the flow and general
understanding of the story.
 Read with a pencil to annotate
the text (Underline and number
key events/ words/phrases)
Accountable Talk
For classroom talk to promote learning it
must be accountable: to the learning
community, to accurate and appropriate
knowledge, and to rigorous thinking.
--University of Pittsburgh Source Handbook
Work with a partner at your table to
recount what has taken place in the
story so far? Be sure to use/cite
specific textual evidence in your
answer.
Literal—Beginning
This is a story about a little girl. Fern, who
lives on a farm with her mother, father, and
brother. First, Fern’s father, Mr. Arable, sets out
with an ax. Second, Fern asks, “Where’s papa
going with that ax?” Next, Fern learns her
father is going to kill a piglet because it is a
runt and, as he says, “A weakling makes
trouble.” Later, Fern calls this event a terrible
injustice. Finally, she persuades her father to
give her the piglet.
Literal—Advanced
This is a story about a little girl. Fern, who lives
on a farm with her mother, father, and brother.
The story begins with Fern’s father, Mr. Arable
setting out with an ax. Fern gets concerned and
asks, “Where’s papa going with that ax?”
Afterward, Fern learns her father is going to kill
a piglet because it is a runt and, as he says, “A
weakling makes trouble.” Thereupon, Fern calls
this event a terrible injustice. After a short
time, she persuades her father to give her the
piglet instead.
Reread
 Look for key details that might
help you determine a central
message or theme beginning to
emerge.
Accountable Talk
Invite your partner to give some
examples from the text as
evidence. Say to each other,
“What in the story makes you say
that?” to propel the conversation.
Turn to your “elbow partner” and
answer the following question:
1. What’s the story beginning to
be about?
2. Be sure to include details from
the story.
Did your conversation look
like this? (beginning)
The story is starting to be about a
struggle for justice. Fern says “It’s
unfair” a couple of times. She also
says it’s the most terrible case of
injustice she’s ever heard of. Fern tries
to wrestle the ax from her father’s
hand.
Did your conversation look
like this? (advanced)
The story explores a struggle for
justice. This struggle is illustrated
when Fern says “It’s unfair” a couple
of times and she declares it’s the most
terrible case of injustice she’s ever
heard of. This struggle climaxes when
Fern tries to wrestle the ax from her
father’s hand.
Reread
• Some words matter more than
others. Analyze E.B. White’s
word choice. Which words call
your attention?
The family’s last name is Arable.
The main character’s name is
Fern.
Her father’s name is John.
“The kitchen table was set for
breakfast, and the room smelled of
coffee, bacon, and wood smoke from
the stove.”
“Mr. Arable set the carton down at
Fern’s place. Then he walked to the
sink and washed his hands and dried
them on the roller towel.”
“There, inside, looking up at her, was
the newborn pig. It was a white one.
The morning light shone through its
ears, turning them pink.”
CCR Anchor Standard 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.“
CCR Anchor Standard 2
“Determine central ideas or themes of a text and
analyze their development; summarize the key
supporting details and ideas.
CCR Anchor Standard 4
“Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a
text, including determining technical, and
figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word
choices shape meaning or tone.
Student’s
annotation of
connotative
meanings in
Charlotte’s Web
Even young
students can
annotate.
Annotation in PreK-2
• Language experience approach
• Interactive writing and shared pen activities
5
Modeled
Annotation in
Kindergarten
Kemp, L. M. (1996). One peaceful pond: A counting book. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Modeled
Annotation
in Second
Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension
for Understanding and Engagement. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Using
Questioning
in Fifth Grade
Same text,
different student,
different strategy:
Inferring.
Modeled
annotation
in Seventh
Grade
Modeling
in 9th
Grade
English
Student
annotation
in 11th
grade
English
If you want to teach effective
annotation, begin with the
purpose.
“X-ray the book”
Douglas Fisher
Break
Accountable Talk Review
“Close reading must
be accompanied by
other essential
instructional practices
that are vital to
reading development:
interactive readalouds and shared
readings, teacher
modeling and thinkalouds.”
--Douglas Fisher
Unwelcome Change
Unwelcome Change
Lyrics © 2005 by Becky Thomas
Classroom Educational Use Only
Ochoa Middle School, Pasco School
District
Tune: "Amazing Grace "
Listen to : "Amazing Grace"
There was a time when life was good,
When I could be just me.
I played outside and with my friends,
My life was safe and free.
But then one day my whole world
changed.
The soldiers stormed our streets.
Their boots and yells disturbed our
peace
And precious dignity.
New rules and laws, a curfew tells
What time to be at home.
The stars must show upon our arms
To keep us all alone.
They forced us from our own sweet
homes.
We had to leave our things,
And move into a small ghetto
Fenced in, no longer free.
The soldiers came to call one day,
It now was time to go
Aboard the waiting cattle cars
Our fate I did not know…
Close Reading
In a CCSS-aligned 5th grade classroom, students
will read speeches made by Patriots, look at
propaganda on the part of Loyalists and Patriots,
weigh the reasons people took sides in that war,
and imagine themselves in the shoes of people
who hold different views on this topic INSTEAD
of simply reading a summary of the American
Revolution.
Background from Douglas Fisher
Make Instructional Connections
Close Reading supports PSD’s Content and
Instructional Approaches
GLAD
• Learning Log
• Process Grid
• Chants
• Poems
• Timelines
• Heads Together
• Sentence Frames
• Picture File Cards
• Positive
Interdependence
Balanced Literacy
• Independent Reading
• Reading Conference
• Informal Assessment
• Read Aloud
• Shared Reading
• Literacy Squared Lotta Lara
• Annotations
• PreWriting Process
• Note Collection
• Speaking and Listening
• Text Specific discussions
• Text Dependent Questions & Tasks
Content
• History
• Math
• Science
• Reading
• Writing
• Music
• Art
Bonus
Analyze Close Reading Lesson
Use TPEP Framework to analyze this lesson
Notice and Note
Resources
A final thought….
“If young readers do the work
of the first three anchor
standards well—
comprehending, inferring,
synthesizing —then they’ll
move rapidly up levels to
the kinds of stories where
paying attention to craft,
structure, and language will
become an essential part of
their everyday reading
work.”
-Calkins, Ehrenworth, & Lehman, 2012