Notice and Note
Strategies for Close Reading
Presented by: Stacey Darchicourt
What is a Signpost?

A signpost is something that helps you know where you’re
going or reminds you to pay attention to something.
When you take a journey through a book, don’t
forget to STOP! At any Notice and Note Sign Posts

When you take a journey through a book, don’t forget to STOP! At any
Notice and Note Sign Posts
Contrast & Contradictions
Words of Wiser
Aha Moment
Again and Again
Tough Questions
Memory Moment
Contrast & Contradictions

When a character does something that contrasts with
what you’d expect or contradicts his earlier acts or
statements. Text Clue: Author shows feelings or
actions the reader hasn’t seen before & doesn’t expect.

Example: “Thank You, Ma’m” This is a story about a
boy who tries to steal a purse from a woman. As you
read, be on the lookout for a place where the author
shows you a character acting in a way that is a contrast
or contradiction with how he or she has been acting or
how we would expect the character would act. When
you notice that contrast or contradiction, stop and ask
yourself one question: Why would the character act
that way?
Thank You, Ma’m
by Langston Hughes
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHyhYa9CQcQ
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When you notice that contrast or contradiction, stop and ask
yourself one question: Why would the character act that way?
Aha! Moment

When a character realizes, understands, or finally figures out
something. Text Clue: Author shows feelings or actions the
reader hasn’t seen before & doesn’t expect.

Aha Moments are those moments when we realize something, and
that realization, in some way, changes our actions.

When you’re reading, the author often gives you clues that the
character has come to an important understanding by having the
character say something like “Suddenly I realized” or “In an
instant I saw” or “It came to me in a flash” or “I now knew” or “I
finally understood that.”

STOP, Ask yourself: How might this change things?
Crash, by Jerry Spinelli
It was a sunny summer day. I was in the front yard digging a hole with
my little red shovel. I heard something like whistling. I looked up. It
was whistling. It was coming from a funny-looking dorky little runt
walking up the sidewalk. Only he wasn’t just walking regular. He was
walking like he owned the place, both hands in his pockets, sort of
swaying lah-dee-dah with each step. Strollll-ing. Strolling and gawking
at the houses and whistling a happy little dorky tune like some Sneezy
or Snoozy or whatever their names are.
And he wore a button, a big one. It covered about half his chest.
Which wasn’t that hard since his chest was so scrawny.
So here he comes strolling, whistling, gawking, buttoning, dorking up
the sidewalk, onto my sidewalk, my property, and all of a sudden I
knew what I had to do, like there was a big announcement coming
down from the sky: Don’t let him pass.
Tough Questions

Tough questions are those questions we sometimes ask ourselves, or someone else,
that seem, at least for a while, not to have an answer. We might ask, “How will I ever
get over this?” when we hear that a loved one has died, we might ask, “What should I
do?’ when we have a difficult, almost impossible, choice to make, we might ask, “Am
I brave enough to say no?” when we’re asked to do something we know we shouldn’t
do. Tough questions are a part of life because life is, well, sometimes tough.

Authors often show us these Tough Questions in fairly straightforward ways: The
main character either asks a trusted person or him- or herself a question that
obviously doesn’t have an easy answer. Often Tough Questions show up in pairs:
“Why won’t they talk to me anymore? Why is everyone treating me this way?”

Occasionally, the character might not ask a question, but might say something like “I
wonder if ….” Once you notice the Tough Question (or the statement that begins
with “I wonder”), it’s important to stop and ask yourself, What does this question make
me wonder about?
A Long Walk to Water
by Linda Sue Park
Salva lowered his head and ran.
He ran until he could not run anymore. Then he walked. For
hours, until the sun was nearly gone from the sky.
Other people were walking, too. There were so many of them that
they couldn’t all be from the school village; they must have come
from the whole area.
As Salva walked, the same thoughts kept going through his head in
rhythm with his steps. Where are we going? Where is my family?
When will I see them again?
Words of the Wiser
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When a character (probably older and wiser) takes the
protagonist aside and offers serious advice. Text clue: A
wiser, often older, character offers a life lesson, usually in a
quiet moment.

Ask yourself: What is the life lesson and how might it affect
the character?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T10ycFr770g&list=PLKh
VWaKguDKSwgwlPgr1t6G-nwmHj2Ha1
Again & Again
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When you notice a word, phrase, or situation mentioned over and over. Text
clue: A repeated image, phrase, or reference.
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Ask yourself: Why does this keep happening again and again? The answers
will tell you about the theme and conflict, or they might foreshadow what will happen
later.
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When you first notice an event, you may not think anything of it at the
moment, but if it happens again and then again, you’ll probably notice it. It’s
the pattern, the repetition, the event that occurs again and again, that let’s you
know something is up—if you notice it. And if you think about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn31z6NFSAA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM4CpiT6R5I&list=PL2hpjSClJLA6O
5MSYuaNlTHAypx8suiIC&index=11
Memory Moment

When the author interrupts the action to tell you about a
memory. Text clue: “I suddenly remembered…” or “I
remember …” or “Thinking back …” Ask yourself: Why
might this memory be important?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMXJa_S3Jw&list=PL2hpjSClJLA6O5MSYuaNlTHAypx8suiIC
Reading Nonfiction
Notice & Note Stances, Signposts,
and Strategies
Coming
Soon!!!!