An ASCD Study Guide for A Close Look at Close Reading: Teaching Students to Analyze Complex Texts, Grades K-5

Although you can think about many of this guide's questions on your own, we recommend forming a study group with grade-level colleagues who have read (or are reading) A Close Look at Close Reading, Grades–K, or using this guide as you read and reflect on the book in a professional learning community (PLC).

Chapter 1. Understanding and Evaluating Text Complexity

1. Based upon what you have read in Chapter 1, what arguments might you use to convince other teachers of the need to have students read complex texts in the elementary classroom—even students for whom complex texts may seem "too difficult"?
2. Think about Common Core Reading Anchor Standard 1"s requirement that students in grades 2–5 be able to read grade-level literary and informational texts independently and proficiently by the end of the school year. Working in grade-level teams, put together an action plan that outlines (a) what your grade-level team needs to do to ensure that this goal is met; (b) how you will support one another while carrying out this plan; and (c) what you will do (and when) to monitor progress toward this goal.
3. Using the guidelines on the website Lexile.com, identify the Lexile levels of four or five texts that you currently use in your classroom. What conclusions can you draw about the level of challenge these texts provide, at least in terms of quantitative factors? Are the titles you are using at levels typical for students in the grade you teach, and do they include some "stretch" texts that meet the more stringent recommendations of the Common Core (see Figure 1.1, p. 22)? If not, identify some alternative titles that you might use to provide more challenge for your students.
4. Which of the texts you've currently teach best illustrates why quantifiable factors alone are an insufficient measure of a text's complexity?
5. How do you determine the aspects of a complex text that will require particular instructional attention during a close reading? Select a text at your grade level and then use Figures 1.2 and 1.3 (see pp. 25–30) to evaluate both its quantitative and qualitative complexity.
6. Compare the filled-in rubrics shown in Figures 1.4 and 1.5 (see pp. 35–40). What can they tell you about some of the differences between narrative text/literature and informational texts in terms of text structure, language features, meaning, author's purpose, and knowledge demands? Think about your students and how they differ in terms of their reading proficiency and their familiarity with books in each category.
7. In your grade-level team, discuss some of the challenges you faced in terms of evaluating texts for complexity (see #5). What aspects of the process did you find to be difficult or easy? How was this process different from the process you use as you analyze a text in preparation for a shared or guided reading experience? How can text complexity evaluation help you to create scaffolded instruction that will allow students to access complex texts?

Chapter 2. Understanding the Role of the Close Reader

1. Try writing an "elevator speech" about close reading to answer following question: So what is close reading, exactly? Try out your response on a trusted colleague, and ask for tips or additional phrases that would make your speech stronger and clearer.
2. Model the process of close reading and text annotation for your students. What aspects of the process seem to be the most difficult for them? What extra supports could you offer to promote student ownership of the practices covered on pages 57–60?
3. With a colleague, select a grade-level text that contains vocabulary you believe will challenge your students' comprehension. Talk about the type of questions you might ask to push students back into the text to analyze the context surrounding the unfamiliar words, the configuration of the words, or the ways in which a general understanding of the passage can help them unlock the meaning of a targeted word. You might want to return to the discussion of the reader as a text user (see pp. 58–59) for a few ideas.
4. How would you explain the differences between a shared reading and a close reading? As you think about this, take another look at Figure 2.1 (see pp. 51–52) and consider what each process requires the teacher and the students to do.
5. Map out a realistic plan for incorporating close reading instruction into your weekly schedule. Think about the specifics: how often, how much time to allot, what you'll do before a close reading session, and what you'll do after. If possible, meet with a colleague who is performing this same exercise to compare and discuss your respective plans.
6. Imagine that a1st grade teacher has come to you, concerned that her students won't be able to closely read a text because most of them haven't fully mastered the foundation skills of reading, like decoding or automaticity. How might you put this colleague at ease, and what advice could you give that would help your colleague support developing readers' text analysis? You might want review the examples and ideas shared by 1st grade teacher Lisa Forehand (see pp. 55–57).
7. Focusing on a complex text you teach or plan to teach, think about how you might backfill information that would support students' understanding of and connection to the topic as you guide their analysis of the text.

Chapter 3. Planning, Teaching, and Managing Close Reading

1. Hold a "complex text caucus" in which each teacher in your grade-level group brings a text that he or she believes will be a good choice for close reading. As a group, evaluate each nominated text in terms of its length, curricular relevance, quality, how interesting students will find it, and level of challenge. Identify those characteristics that made some texts more suitable than others for close reading lessons. Then, examine each of the most highly rated texts for qualitative and quantitative aspects of text complexity.
2. Select a complex text you believe will be appropriate for close reading, a create a set of questions that will push readers to consider (a) what the text says, (b) how the text works, and (c) what the text means. Use Figures 3.1–3.4 (see pp. 66–69) for reference as you prepare. Share you question set with colleagues, and discuss with them how you might change and expand these questions, based on student responses students. Try some role-play here!
3. What are the essentials of annotating, and how could you best explain the purpose of annotating to your students? Use the annotation chart examples in Figure 3.5 (see p. 74) to help you create an annotation chart that will work well for your students.
4. Think about the challenges of asking text-dependent questions about texts that are read-aloud to students in the primary grades—students who are not yet fluent readers. Select a specific grade level and a specific text, and then develop a close reading lesson demonstration. Present it to your colleagues, and invite them to use the Close Reading Observation Guide (Appendix A, pp. 178–180) to provide you with feedback.
5. Imagine your principal has invited you to conduct a teacher-to-teacher workshop to show your colleagues how to plan a close reading lesson. What areas will you emphasize? How could you use the Planning Guide for Close Reading (Figure 3.13, pp. 91–92) to support your presentation?
6. How secure are you feeling about close reading instruction? Use the self-assessment in Figure 3.15 (see p. 99) to assess your strengths in this area. Once you have identified the areas that aren't yet strong for you, return to the text and closely reread the sections that will support the development of a deeper understanding.
7. Some teachers have the impression that close reading is no more than a series of rereadings with teacher interrogation. Carefully review two of the teaching examples provided in this chapter. In a small group, discuss how the teachers in these examples used questions during each rereading to structure students' encounters with the text in a way that led them to a deeper understanding.

Chapter 4. Reading Closely Across the Disciplines

1. Discuss with your colleagues how your grade level might employ close reading to help students access the specialized content of a discipline and utilize the skills of that discipline.
2. Consider these genre categories and the differences among them: (a) literature/narrative text, (b) informational text, (c) argumentative/ persuasive texts, and (d) other forms (graphic novels, multimedia texts, etc.). In your grade-level team, discuss how you would approach a close reading of a text in each category.
3. One of the Common Core text exemplars for grades K–1 is an online text called Garden Helpers. Read this text, then discuss with a partner or the members for your grade-level team how you might use text-dependent questions to guide primary students toward an understanding of the symbiotic relationships among organisms discussed.
4. In Chapter 4, the authors discuss a text set that includes Jane Medina's My Name Is Jorge on Both Sides of the River, Helen Foster James and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh's Paper Son, and Carol Bierman's Journey to Ellis Island.—texts representing the genres of poetry, historical fiction, and biography. How might you use this text set to teach the topic of immigration? Consider the relevant themes, the disciplinary skills needed for reading each genre, and some possible text-dependent questions. In general, how can text sets support close reading instruction?
5. The ability to find text evidence is essential skill students will be called on to use throughout their schooling, and Chapter 4 includes an example of how a 2nd grade teacher might use a close reading of the Common Core text exemplar Where Do Polar Bears Live? to address a key precursor skill: identifying how authors support the points they make (see p. 114). Think of a text you might use to help students at your grade level, in your class, focus on finding text evidence. What questions would you ask? How would your close reading session proceed? For the Common Core's grade-level expectations, review the skill progression for Reading Informational Text Standard 8.
6. Close reading in elementary social science classes can include examining primary source photographs in the early grades and—as students get older—progress to more sophisticated analysis of print and visual primary source documents, such as the famous political "Join or Die," mentioned in Chapter 4. What visuals or visual documents might you use to guide students to a deeper understanding of a history or social studies concept included in your curriculum? What text-dependent questions could drive students back to the visual to gain a deeper understanding?
7. Find the short excerpt of Barbara Cornell's article "Families: Pulling the Plug on TV" (see p. 122), and identify ways that you could help your students navigate the math in this text—the statistical data, averages, and percentages. Discuss with a colleague how use of text-dependent questions could help make text with data and numbers less "overwhelming."

Chapter 5: Supporting Academic Communication About Closely Read Texts

1. Revisit the progressions of the Common Core's Language and Speaking and Listening Standards that are included in this chapter. Now reflect on your teaching. Which of the standards do you explicitly attend to? Which of the standards could use more of your attention?
2. Look back at how teacher Amy Miles uses sentence frames with her students (see pp. 131–133). What is the purpose of using sentence frames in discussions of closely read text? Which of these frames would work well for your students as differentiated supports? Which sentence frames could you add to the charts shown in Figures 5.2 and 5.3 to better support your students?
3. Engaging students in Four Corners is a way to help them build academic language and use argumentation before, during, and after reading a text closely. Think about a complex text you regularly have your students read. Generate a few Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree statements you might display for them to think about and discuss after reading this text. Remember, you want Four Corners statements that will support argumentation and get students in several different corners of the room. For an example, revisit Mr. Drake's statement after his students read Robert Coles's The Story of Ruby Bridges (see p. 132).
4. Inside Outside Circles and Gallery Walk are both mentioned in this chapter as ways to encourage students to talk critically about a text they've read closely. What are some similarities between these two strategies? How do they differ? How might you incorporate some written accountability into both of these strategies?
5. The Common Core's writing standards require students to attend to text types and purpose. Think about the writing assignments you ask your students to complete. Make a three-column chart, and note which prompts or assignments fall under the three text types identified in the standards: argumentative, informational/explanatory, and narrative. Where do most of your assignments currently fall? Which text types could use more of your attention and more explicit instruction?
6. Review Chapter 5"s overview of Norman Webb's Depth of Knowledge-Based Questioning (see p. 146). Now think about a writing extension you might do with your students after they have closely reading a text. How could you incorporate Webb's different levels into this writing assignment or prompt? Create a progression of questions you could ask to help your students transform their ideas about a closely read text into a more formal piece of writing.
7. Try creating a Writing RAFT related to this chapter, assuming the Role of a teacher, addressing the Audience of parents, using the Format of a Facebook post, and addressing the Topic of "Ways to help your child talk about and write narrative, informational/explanatory and argumentative texts the have read following a close reading."

Chapter 6: Assessing to Support Meaning Making During Close Reading

1. What might you say to clarify for your colleague the role of assessment throughout close reading? Use Figure to 6.1 (see p. 155) to help with your explanation.
2. Working with a colleague, review the sets of observational notes each of you took during a close reading session and discuss how students' annotations and responses informed your respective instructional decisions.
3. What are some of the similarities and differences between the PARCC and Smarter Balanced Common Core assessments? Identify the features you like in each assessment, and explain why you like them.
4. The PARCC and Smarter Balanced assessments are referred to as summative assessments. How does summative assessment differ from formative assessment? How could you use the data from both kinds of assessments to support your close reading instruction?
5. Working in grade-level teams, review Common Core sample assessment items for your grade level, identify the skills being assessed, and talk about how you might use close reading to support the development of these skills.
6. With a colleague, or in a team or PLC, share experiences that demonstrate the truth of the following statement: The insights a teacher acquires through teacher-and-student conversations during close reading can lead to beneficial instructional adjustments that help students make meaning and achieve learning goals.
7. With a colleague, or in a team or PLC, share experiences that demonstrate the truth of the following statement: Students' responses can inform a teacher's instructional planning, reveal the progress they are making, and point the teacher toward the instructional interventions he or she needs to make.

A Close Look at Close Reading: Teaching Students to Analyze Complex Texts, Grades K–5 was written by Diane Lapp, Barbara Moss, Maria Grant, and Kelly Johnson. This 207-page, 8" x 10" book (Stock #114008; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-1947-5) is available from ASCD for $22.95 (ASCD member) or $30.95 (nonmember). Copyright © 2015 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.