Common Core Instructional Template for English Learners: Close Read
Select Text
Select Standard(s)
Establish Purpose
Steps of Close Read Scaffolded for ELs
Strategies for ELs
Cold Read: Students read text independently
Before reading
Teacher Planning
Teacher pre-reads text to plan for possible misconceptions and to identify content vocabulary
that is central to understanding the text
www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/awlhighlighter.htm. Use this information, as well as
“Standards Progressions,” to plan for:
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Building background knowledge
Pre-teaching vocabulary
Setting the purpose for annotation
Modeling Think-Aloud
Developing guiding questions for the varied levels of ELLs
Teacher Delivery Prior to Reading
Teacher builds background knowledge and pre-teaches essential vocabulary ONLY to scaffold
for students who require it. This should not be done for all students. ( See Common Core
Publishers Criteria http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Publishers_Criteria_for_3-12.pdf )
During reading
Students have pencil in hand annotating text. Direct students to annotate for a specific purpose,
such as:
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Underlining important terms
Circling definitions and meanings
Writing key words and definitions in the margin
Using symbols to signal the following:
o !-important
o ?-question; I wonder, I don’t understand or something puzzles me
o +-new information (clarify)
o x-I thought differently; I have a different opinion.
Indicating steps in a process by using numbers
Building Background Knowledge
 Use realia, visuals, gestures,
props, demonstrations, and
manipulatives to provide
context for the text
 Emphasize text features (footnotes, glossary, headings, etc.)
Pre-teaching Vocabulary
 Identify Cognates
 Vocabulary Journals
 Word Walls
 4-Square Vocabulary
 Realia, props, visuals
 Concept Maps
 Word Webs
 Use of word-to-word
dictionary
 Anchor Charts showing
symbols to be used
 Use of word-to-word
dictionary
 Use of English dictionary
 Provide a glossary of high
frequency words whose
meanings cannot be inferred
from context
 Provide a visual glossary
Student annotations serve as pre-assessment to guide instruction.
Springdale Public Schools, 2012
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After reading
1. Partner talk: students discuss their annotations. Teacher observes to check for
understanding. This is NOT a time for students to discuss interpretation of text.
2. Group Share: whole group discussion to check for understanding and/or confusions to
determine what teacher should model in upcoming Read/Think Aloud. This is NOT a
time for students to discuss interpretation of text.
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Academic Conversations
Use sentence frames, such as, “I was confused
by…..”
Reciprocal Teaching
Questions, Prompts, and Cues when needed to
guide comprehension
Observations during Partner Talk and Group Share serve as formative assessments to guide
Think-Aloud and scaffolds during students’ paraphrasing of text.
Teacher reads aloud while students follow along in text
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Teacher reads aloud/thinks aloud to address observed understandings/misconceptions and
develop vocabulary critical to comprehending the text.
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Highlight Contextual Clues
Use realia, props, visuals, gestures,
demonstrations, and manipulations as needed
Slow down speech as needed
Students paraphrase text
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Two-column notes: important excerpts on left (can
be provided by teacher)/student paraphrase (could
be visual) on right
 Small group guided instruction to assist lower level ELLs to paraphrase text.
 Write-Aloud in guided group
 Students who are unable to paraphrase text will answer comprehension questions
 Graphic Organizer
developed by teachers.
 Word Bank
 Paraphrase text with a partner orally and/or in writing.
 Sentence Frames
Students answer guiding questions, citing evidence from text independently. Teacher-led group discussion.
Teacher provides one of the following scaffolds if necessary, based on earlier observations:
1. Students read with a partner to answer guiding or text-dependent questions, citing
evidence from text.
2. Group discussion with teacher facilitating.
3. Teacher checks student comprehension from group discussion and forms guided
instruction groups to build comprehension as necessary.
4. Questions, Prompts, and Cues in place of teacher explanation
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Question-Answer-Relationships (QAR)
Academic Conversations
Two-column Notes: Left side answer/ right side
evidence from text
Socratic Circle
Sequenced Pictures
Reciprocal Teaching
Students write independently
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Small guided instruction groups
Pair students to discuss responses and complete pre-writing activities prior to independent
writing
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Write-Aloud/Interactive Writing
Graphic Organizers
Read-Write-Pair-Share
RAFT
Anchor Charts for text structures, signal words,
outlines, sentence frames
Springdale Public Schools, 2012