Do Now:
Quick Write
• Get out your Reading Journal
• Date the entry and add it to your Table of Contents
Do you ever feel like a teacher, or maybe one of your
parents, is a broken record? What is it that he/she
seems to repeat over and over? Why do you think
that might be?
Notice & Note
Strategies for Close Reading
Reading literary texts with deeper
understanding.
Learning Target
Success Criteria
• Learning Target:
o Students will identify and recognize words,
events, and/or images that are repeated
through a text.
o Students will find clues about a character, the
plot or perhaps even the theme by examining
these ‘Again and Again’ moments.
• Success Criteria:
o While reading the example text, I will identify the
‘Again and Again’ moments and examine the
importance of that moment.
Again and Again
• Much of what we learn about our friends – enemies,
too! Comes from noticing patterns, repetitions.
• Example:
o One day you’re sitting with a few friends when another one
joins you. One of the original group grows quiet and after a
few minutes gets up and leaves. You may not think
anything of it at that moment, but if it happens again the
next day and then again the next week, you’ll probably
notice.
o It’s the pattern, the repetition, the again and again, that
lets you know something is up – if you notice it, and think
about it.
Again and Again
• Noticing it isn’t enough. You have to do something
with what you’ve noticed.
• You have to wonder about it, speculate what it might
mean, and perhaps compare it with other incidents –
otherwise, it won’t help you understand what’s going
on.
o Make mental notes (or when reading, actual written notes)
about what it might mean. Ultimately, you’ll figure it out.
o Your friends may have:
• had a falling out
• discovered they’re in competition for the same prize
• realized they like each other more than they thought and
they don’t know what to do about it!
Again and Again
• An event may not seem significant the first time it
occurs, but by the third time, you’ll begin to wonder
what’s going on and start watching your friends
more closely.
• You’ll probably ask yourself something like:
o Why does this happen again and again?
Again and Again
• Good books often imitate life – so, ‘Again and Again’
moments happen in books too!
• When an author repeats something – a word, an
image, or an event – it means something.
• Just like when you notice an Again and Again
moment in life, when you see it in a book, you should
ask yourself:
o Why does this happen again and again?
Again and Again
• Let’s look for Again and
Again moments in a
few excerpts from
Hatchet by Gary
Paulsen.
• We will start when
Brian, the main
character, is seated
next to the pilot in a
small plane flying over
the forests in the far
north.
Again and Again
• Let's STOP right here and notice how Paulsen is using
the AGAIN and AGAIN signpost.
• Brian uses the word divorce twice and he emphasizes
it, too, by letting it stand alone as a one-word
sentence.
o he says that his thinking always started with that word.
• Now that we've noticed the repetition, we should now
ask ourselves the anchor question, Why does this
keep showing up again and again?
Again and Again
• After reading just a few more lines, we see the
author is using this strategy, repetition, yet again.
• Discuss with your elbow partner:
o where you have spotted this in the passage
o why you think this keeps showing up again and
again
Again and Again
• Let's read on. This time, as I read, highlight,
underline, or put an AA next to anything that you
think is repeated, something the author probably
wants us to notice as repetitious.
Again and Again
• What repetitions did you notice?
• Note the repetitions -the AGAIN and AGAIN- and
then ask yourself the anchor question: Why does
this show up again and again? Record your
answer in the margins.
• Now turn to your neighbor and discuss thoughts and
observations.
Again and Again
• Many of you noticed that another word is
beginning to show up again and again- Secret.
o And we know it's important since it is capitalized.
o Brian knows the secret that caused the divorce, and he hasn't
told anyone about it.
o Why might the author be returning to this again and again?
• If we read on in this novel, we would have to see if
the divorce, and his feeling of being so alone
because of it, play the important role in the story
that we've been led to expect.
Again and Again
Review:
Turn to your elbow partner and discuss these
questions:
o Why should we be alert to the words, phrases,
actions, or situations that the author shows us
over and over?
o What should we stop and ask ourselves (anchor
question) when we come across these Again and
Again signposts?
Again and Again
in Jackie’s Wild Seattle
• We’ve mentioned a few of the ideas that have come
up again and again in our class novel.
• Now, go back to your Reader’s Response Journal and
add these – I’m giving you the first 3 columns, you need
to add your thoughts to the 4th column.
• You may want to add them according to their page
number. If you list them all together, you may want to
leave space between ideas so you can add to the list
when they come up again – you decide what works for
you. But, you will need to jot them down.
Pg #
Signpost
What I Noticed
1
AA
Shannon remembers Neal as a climber
3
AA
Shannon’s biggest hope for summer =
climbing
9
AA
Shannon thinks Neal might comment
on the climbing she’s done
14
AA
Shannon mentions rock climbing again
3
AA
See above!
20
AA
Hopeless – Shannon & woman about
catching possum
22
AA
Hopeless – Shannon says about
catching baby raccoons in the car
27
AA
Hope or Help – Shannon notices lost
soul boy’s appealing eyes
???
AA
Uncle Neal being tired or weak
???
AA
Cody’s fixation on disaster
Note: What it
means/ shows
Reading Journal
for Jackie’s Wild Seattle
• Chapter 7 = Homework
• You are looking for CC’s, MM’s, TQ’s and now AA’s as
well.
o
o
o
o
CC = Contrast and Contradictions
MM = Memory Moments
TQ = Tough Questions
AA = Again and Again