| 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. |
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While listening to CPR today, I heard an interesting interview that I want to share. Ryan Warner interviewed Boulder author TaraShea Nesbitt about her new book "The Wives of Los Alamos." At one point, Warner asked Nesbitt to discuss her decision, as an author, to write using "we" as opposed to some other pronoun. She gave a very interesting answer, which I think offers a great opportunity to consider author's craft in textual analysis. When asking students to dig into text, particularly around author's craft and structure, it is important to provide lots of support and examples. Question stems such as, why do you think the author chose to write using the pronoun "we" instead of "I, you, they, etc?;" what effect does this structural decision have on you as the reader?; what message does the author want to get across through this intentional selection of words? all support students as they consider that author's are very intentional about the words they chose in an effort to convey certain meaning, messages, etc. When students look at choices made over the course of a text, they begin to draw conclusions around the tone, mood, theme, etc of that text and certainly gain a better understanding of how to approach analysis of complex material. Take some time to enjoy this interview and consider how this kind of discussion could make it into your student's conversations around text, point of view and craft and structure. http://www.cpr.org/news/story/new-book-chronicles-los-alamos-wives-heading-west-unknown As you are writing your lesson and teaching it with students, please be sure to reflect on your experiences! Be sure to comment on at least two other posts prior to our September meeting date! We can't wait to see all of the fabulous lessons and instructional strategies!
This was NOT part of your homework for tonight, but I know that many of you are very interested in seeing close reading "in action." Consider taking some time to view the following video:
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/omnivore-dilemma-close-reading-of-non-fiction-text-core-challenge My personal reflection on this video is that there are some fabulous components. I do however, see many opportunities for continued improvement. For example, in the Omnivore's Dilemma lesson, she really gets at some of our work today around how to think about a tough question and then puts the students in charge of figuring out what needs to happen in order to answer the question. Great.....BUT....I don't see the majority of students that I teach being able to do this with a high rate of success, at least not initially. Instead, this is a perfect comfirmation of what we started talking about today and certainly a way to see that the teacher needs to give thought to the activities and requisite skills that kids need in order to answer that question. How could some of the instructional strategies that we discussed today be put into play in this lesson? Again, respond to the articles listed under the Session 2 materials. Be sure to look at others' comments as well! Do you see connections to our discussion from today from the article about children's literarture?
Please comment on one or more of the articles. What resonated with you and/or challenged your thinking as you read?
Consider and comment on the following:
"Students' ability to read complex text does not always develop in a linear fashion. Although the progression of Reading Standard 10 defines required grade-by-grade growth in students' ability to read complex text, the development of this ability in individual students is unlikely to occur at an unbroken pace." Discuss some ways to support students who struggle greatly to read texts within their text complexity grade band so that they are able to read at a grade-appropriate level of complexity. Please consider and post your responses to the following questions:
1.) The Standards' model shows that each part of text complexity (quantitative, qualitative, reader and task) is represented equally. Why do you think the model places an equal emphasis on each part? 2.) After considering the four qualitative factors (levels of meaning/purpose, structure, language, conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands), discuss the reasoning behind the following explanation: "These factors are presented as continua of difficulty rather than as a succession of discrete "stages" in text complexity." According to the authors of the Common Core State Standards, "A turning away from complex texts is likely to lead to a general impoverishment of knowledge, which, because knowledge is intimately linked with reading comprehension ability, will accelerate the decline in the ability to comprehend complex texts and the decline in the richness of text itself. This bodes ill for the ability of Americans to meet the demands placed upon them by citizenship in a democratic republic and the challenges of a highly competitive global marketplace of goods, services and ideas."
Discuss your reaction to the statement above. |
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