1. Informational
Texts: Evidence
Types of lenses
Possible Questions:
What does the author
want me to
understand?
Types of patterns
In Informational texts…
A subject’s:
 Facts
 Phrases
 Descriptions
Photos or graphics
Quotes from experts
Author’s stated opinions
Comparisons
Which details fit together
How they fit together
Types of understanding  Definitions of unknown
concepts or terms
 Main idea of a section
 Central idea of an entire
text
 Author’s bias or point of
view
 Comparison
2. Informational Text:
Word Choice
Types of lenses
Possible Questions:
Are there any hard or
important words?
Are there any words that
could have more than one
meaning?
Types of patterns
Types of understanding
In Informational texts…
Choose words that seem particularly
selected by the author such as:
 Words that evoke:
 strong emotions
 strong images
 a clear idea
 Words that reveal style:
 informal tone
 formal tone
 a clear voice
 Particular kinds of words:
 nouns
 verbs
 adjectives
 adverbs
Which details fit together
How they fit together
An author’s
 Tone
 Purpose
 Relationship/theme
Texts:
 Central ideas
 Issues/Lessons
 Symbols/metaphors/motifs
 Themes
Planning Support for
Close Reading
2. Informational Text:
Word Choice
Anchor Standards
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.
Standard 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are
used in a text, including determining technical,
connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how
specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
Adapted from Falling in Love with Close Reading,
Lehman & Roberts, 2014
Planning Support
for Close Reading
1. Informational
Text: Evidence
Anchor Standards for Reading
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.
Standard 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a
text, including determining technical, connotative, and
figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices
shape meaning or tone.
Standard 6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the
content and style of a text.
Adapted from Falling in Love with Close Reading, Lehman
& Roberts, 2014
3. Informational Text: In Informational texts…
Structure
Types of lenses
Lens #1: Describe the organization of the text:
Genre as structure chosen for a purpose:
Possible Questions:
 Editorial, to convince or persuade
Who is speaking in the
 Article, to inform and educate
passage?
Location of parts within the whole:
Who is the main
 Sections
audience of this piece?
 Text features
What text structure did
 Order of techniques (see below)
the author use?
Techniques the author uses:
 Definition of a term
 Comparisons
 Cause or effect
 Description
 Anecdote
 Claim
Lens #2: Purpose of that organization:
 To present a cause for an effect
 To make a complex idea more concrete
 To provide context
 To clear up misconceptions
 To develop a reader’s expertise
Types of patterns
 How are the parts similar?
 How are the parts different?
 What purpose do the parts serve?
Types of understanding
 Definitions
 Main idea of a section
 Central idea of an entire text
 Author’s bias or point of view
 Purpose behind the author’s choices
4. Informational Text:
Point of View and
Argument
Types of lenses
Possible Questions:
Who is speaking in the
passage?
Who is the main audience of
this piece?
What ideas or claims does
the author make?
Do I agree with or disagree
with the author’s argument?
Types of patterns
Types of understanding
In Informational texts…
Lens #1: What is the point of view/argument?
 Ideas or claims
 Reasons the claim is right
 Evidence supporting the reasons
 Counterargument
 Logic
 Validity
 Relevance
Lens #2: What makes the point of view/argument
persuasive?
 Text evidence
 Word choice
 Structure
 Emotional appeals (personal stories or anecdotes)
 Engaging voice (humor, passion, or outrage)
 Sense of audience (angled evidence, or tone)
 Nods to commonly held beliefs or even stereotypes
 Cacophony, or “ranting”
 Rhetorical devices (metaphors, alliteration, or irony)
Validity and strength of the argument:
 Central idea or claim
 Most/least persuasive parts
How similar or different from the reader’s point of view
Validity and strength of the argument:
 Central idea or claim
 Most/least persuasive parts
 How similar or different from the reader’s point of view
 How well-supported
 Effective or ineffective parts
 The strength of counterargument
Author’s style:
 Most commonly used craft or persuasion techniques
 Balance of style and argument
 Effective or ineffective persuasive techniques
Planning Support for
Close Reading
4. Informational
Text: Point of View
and Argument
Anchor Standards
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.
Standard 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including determining technical, connotative, and figurative
meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning
or tone.
Standard 6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the
content and style of a text.
Standard 8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific
claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as
the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
Adapted from Falling in Love with Close Reading, Lehman &
Roberts, 2014
Planning Support
for Close Reading
3. Informational
Text: Structure
Anchor Standards
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.
Standard 5: Analyze the structure of texts, including
how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions
of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza)
relate to each other and the whole.
Adapted from Falling in Love with Close Reading, Lehman &
Roberts, 2014
5. Informational Text:
Reading Across
Texts
Types of lenses
In Informational texts…
Lens #1: Choose a comparison:
 Characters or subjects
 Themes or central ideas
Possible Questions:
 Settings
What similarities do you
 Authors (texts by the same author or different
notice in these texts? Do
author)
they share a point of view,
 Genres
theme, or idea? How does
 Styles
that help me form my own
 Other ways (awards won, time period, social issues,
understanding?
etc.)
Lens #2: Then choose your texts:
 What other text fits with this chosen comparison?
- Some students may find it helpful to flip these steps.
Types of patterns
Decide how to compare:
 Text evidence
 Word choice
 Structure
 Point of view
Types of understanding
Have new ideas about:
 The lens you looked through
 The authors’ choices
 The messages these texts send
 See characters or subjects as more complex
 Analyze kinds of relationships between characters or
ideas in texts
 Theme or central idea
When considering author’s purpose:
 Analyze each author’s point of view
 Understand more of an author’s style
 See how genre choices affect story, topic, or readers
 Examine what it takes to be an “award-winning”
book
 Analyze what texts from a time period show us about
that period in history
Planning Support for
Close Reading
5.Informational
Text: Reading
Across Texts
Anchor Standards
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.
Standard 9: Analyze how two or more texts address
similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or
to compare the approaches the authors take.
Adapted from Falling in Love with Close Reading,
Lehman & Roberts, 2014