Falling in Love with Close Reading Chapter 2

 

Question 1 -

Reading Closely for Text Evidence is reading through lenses.  It is different from word choice because,We are specifically focusing on details to gather data; what characters say/think/do, relationships, setting descriptions, and time period.  We are looking deeper to better understand the text.  We are going to then look at our data to find patterns – how do the details fit together?  Then we take the pattern and think about how it affects the character’s feelings, traits, and relationships.  In some ways it is similar to word choice as we must look into the text to find specific pieces of proof.

 

Question 2 -

I love the lessons and examples from this Chapter; however they are geared towards much older students.  As a first grade teacher, I need to take my learning and apply it specifically to my students.  I feel like close reading is something that I can use with my higher readers, or with my entire class second semester.  My focus for the first quarter, often into the second quarter is to make sure my students have the basic phonics skills so that they can put all the pieces together and become readers. 

 

I think I will model close reading with a read aloud, and a guided close reading lesson.  In order to be successful I will need to scaffold my initial lessons with close reading to ensure student success.

 

Question 3 -

Students are encouraged to think more and dig deeper to prove their thinking with close reading.  They use their lenses to see developing patterns and then apply their learning to their understanding.  I see the student talk as more complex and at a higher level.  To me it seems as if the students are getting a much better reading lesson than we have typically taught in the past.

 

Where do I go from here?

Honestly, I don't know! I need to meet my darling little first graders and assess where they are reading.  I may only use close reading as a guided/whole group instruction the entire first semester.  I do want my students to develop critical thinking skills, and I think close reading can help with that, but I need to make sure they are ready for such a task.  Check in with me in October -- let's see what I have been able to do!

 

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