In an effort to provide multiple examples of close reading "in action," I came across this model and wanted to share it. In this short clip, Sunday Cummins nicely models a paragraph about frogs that is deceivingly simple at first glance. Notice that she demonstrates that students could likely come to a generic conclusion about the text, if not actively engaged with it through close reading. I think she does a nice job of (unintentionally) showing how old instruction differs from the concept of close reading, that is, looking at a text from a surface level as opposed to digging deeper using the word level-sentence level- paragraph level- text level-world level model that we discussed in class. 

Similar to the previous video that I posted, I would caution viewers with respect to one key concept: close reading is not just about the questions you ask, but the intentional scaffolding that you build into each of those questions that build student's stamina and ability to effectively answer them in a sophisticated way. Even in this short clip, I can see multiple opportunities to physically pull the text apart using manipulatives and strategies such as a dialectical journal to ensure that kids are truly processing and retaining their understanding of the analysis process to draw their conclusions. Close reading inherently demands that students become physically involved with the text. When this process gets watered down to the extent that we simply revert to the old way of "read a passage, answer the questions, discuss, move on," we have lost our momentum in the effort to develop critical, analytical thinkers. We have to ensure that they have the tools and the process to work at the higher level.