Today’s Focus:
SHIFT # 4
TEXT-DEPENDENT
Q&A
& CLOSE READING
Ex. “When Charlie McButton Lost Power”
(Narrative poem in third grade basal )
It’s about a boy who panics when he can’t use his precious
electronic gadgets during a power outage, but
unexpectedly finds that he can have plenty of
imaginative, non-electronic fun with his little sister.
Teacher edition questions:
 What has happened during a bad storm you have
experienced?
 How do you feel when you can’t do your favorite things?
 What would you do when the power came on?
Do you need to read the text to answer these
questions?
Some Text-Dependent Questions
 In the last stanza, Charlie had another
thought. What was this thought, and
why couldn’t he explain it?
 In the stanza where Charlie says,
“Could anything be duller…,” what is
he talking about?
 Why is the word anything in italics?
 What is a summary of the poem’s
central theme?
Bookend Standards 1 & 10
 CCR-R1:
Read closely to determine what the text says
explicitly to make logical inferences from it; cite
specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to
support conclusions drawn from the text. ( Text
support and interpretation)
 CCR-R10:
Read and comprehend complex literary and
informational texts independently and proficiently.
(Fluency and Comprehension)
Standards 2-9 RL/RI
Tool box Strategies
Comprehension Strategies and Thinking Skills that
students need to bring to bear to proficiently ask and
answer questions.
Focus on Process, Not Just Content
The standards ask you to
“Read like a detective
and write like a reporter.”
--David Coleman
Defining Close Reading
 Engaging with a text directly
 Examining its meaning thoroughly and
methodically
 Using texts of grade-level appropriate complexity
 Focusing student reading on the particular words,
phrases, sentences, and paragraphs of the author
 Read and re-read deliberately
Pearson ELA Instructional Practices
Shift # 4: Text-based Q&A/ Close Reading
 More than surface reading; re-read
reflectively
 “Grapple with text-dependent
questions: questions that can only be
answered by referring explicitly back to
the text in front of them
 Use evidence from texts to present
careful analyses and clear information
Focus on the “Four Corners” of the Text
 Four steps of analysis in four types of
reading:
 1. What a text says
Restatement
 2. What a text does
Description
 3. What a text means
Interpretation
 4. So what does it mean to me?
Application
Activity: The Golden Touch
•READ TEXT SELECTION
INDEPENDENTLY
Connecting Standards to Reading
 RL3.1
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate
understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the
basis for the answers.
 RL3.3 Describe characters in a story and explain how their
actions contribute to the sequence of events.
 RL 3.5 Refer to parts of stories when writing or speaking
about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza;
describe how successive parts builds on earlier sections.
Creating Text-Dependent Questions
 Choose a grade level
 Look at the standards
 At your table with one or two partners
create three text-dependent questions
for the King Midas story
Text-dependent Questions
Is the question text -
based?
Does the question align
with at least one of the
standards?
Some Sample Questions
 How does King Midas’ love of gold change from the




beginning to the end of the story? (Use evidence
from the story to explain)
When does King Midas realize that his wish that
everything be changed to gold is a bad idea?
What details does the author give us to show King
Midas’ love of gold? (character)
How has Marigold helped her father understand his
mistake?
How can above questions be improved?
High Quality Text-Dependent
Questions
& Tasks
 Explicit—cite details
 Implicit –make valid claims based on evidence
 Focus on specific phrases & sentences to explain the
text’s meaning
 Question sequences will build on each other so
students learn to stay focused on the text
 Move from “text-to-self” to “text-dependent”
 Watch a video of a lesson
les
 http://commoncore.americaachieves.org/
Pearson ELA Instructional Practices
Video Lesson Close Reading
 http://commoncore.americaachieves.org/la
nding
Text-Dependent Questions
Possible Formula:
 Why do you think______________________?
 Using facts from the text and your own ideas, explain
your reasoning…………….
Activity: The Gettysburg Address
•READ TEXT SELECTION
INDEPENDENTLY
Close Reading Informational Text
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
 Read silently
 Listen / follow along to read aloud
 Translate /paraphrase first paragraph
 Respond to text-dependent questions
Where to Find Close Reading Samples
 Close analytic reading exemplars on
www.achievethecore.org
 New videos at www.americaachieves.org
 Videos and lessons on www.engageny.org
Sample Close Reading Lesson Format
 Read the text independently
 Reread with partner or follow along w/teacher
 Paraphrase orally in writing
 Share with partner
 Reread to answer questions (text-dependent)
 Vocabulary—using context
 Writing w/prompt
 Pair with another reading
How to Integrate Close Reading
into the Curriculum
 More time per book in K-2 read alouds
 3 times a week in upper elementary school
alternating social studies, science, ELA
 In middle school and high school each subject area
teacher does one a month
 Questions and assignments all include writing
ASCD 2012/ Common Core State Standards
Close Reading Model
…. is
a central guiding principle of
the standards and as a result will be
a central focus of the PARCC
assessment system
6 Month Objectives: ELA
 Materials: Shift in what students are reading-within
existing materials
-Reading Lists include a balance of literature and
informational text; integrating non-fiction into assignments &
instruction to meet targets
 Teachers: Shift in student questions
-Shift to 80% of questions asked as text-dependent instead of
text-to-self questions
 Students: Evidence of close reading
-Close encounters with sufficiently complex text demonstrated
verbally and through writing to inform or argue using
evidence from text
Resources
 “5 Things Every Teacher Should Be Doing to Meet
the Common core’s Literacy Standards”
Eye on Education Professional Services
 “ELA Instructional Practices : Reaching New Heights
with the CCSS”
Pearson School Achievement Services
Basal Alignment Project
 Read article “Teachers Embedding Standards in Basal-
Reader Questions” (Education Week)
 HMH Medallion Reading
 HMH Story Town
 HMH Trophies
 MH Imagine It
 MH Open Court
 MH Treasures
 Pearson Reading Street
 Training Materials
Basal Alignment Project
 http://www.edmodo.com/home