Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom. Jeff Flygare
in their classrooms likely will have tried many different methods. The Introduction to Great Books (Great Books Foundation, 1990) program informs the process of close reading this book describes. The Great Books Foundation designed, developed, and published this program to provide a framework for students to encounter and enter challenging texts. The following recommended process bears resemblance to their approach, though the discussion process looks considerably different. It is effective for close reading for most students in most classrooms, and students can adapt it for testing situations. The process is effective regardless of the kind of close reading text or content area. As a reminder, the steps in their basic form are as follows.
1. Prereading: Answering a question and accessing background knowledge on the close reading passage
2. Reading twice and annotating: Reading through the selection twice while annotating potential evidence
3. Generating questions: Using annotations to generate questions about the text that are useful in a general discussion or as prompts for the next reading
4. Reading analytically: Reading the text analytically a third time, focusing on the questions identified in step 3
5. Discussing as a class or analyzing individually: Finalizing the class discussion or individual analysis of the information gathered from step 4
6. Processing: Drawing conclusions
Each of the following chapters presents suggestions and teaching strategies for sharing the steps in the process with students and encouraging them to develop and deepen their abilities.
Summary
Close reading is a process of deep investigation into a text and the authorial choices therein. Although formalist ideas provide the method of analysis this book describes, the process is compatible with any number of critical lenses. This allows students to support their responses to a text with the solid evidence of literary devices. In subsequent chapters, we explore a six-step close reading process useful in all content areas. Students who master this process will not only find success in classwork and standardized tests but also develop the critical-thinking abilities essential for the rest of their lives.
Chapter 2
PREREADING
Close reading has the potential of guiding students through analytical thinking, but the very nature of the strategy requires substantial teacher preparation. As a first step in the close reading process, students must answer a question and access background knowledge as preparation for a more in-depth reading. If a teacher asks her students to read deeply, she must have done it herself first. This is not to suggest that a teacher should read the text to establish one correct meaning, but it does mean instructors must be deeply familiar with the text to adequately guide students in close reading, including in the initial step of answering questions and accessing background knowledge. Teachers should carefully select the right text (and the right portion of that text) to meet students’ needs and abilities. Once the teacher is prepared for close reading, the students must be as well. They must be familiar with the close reading process before they begin it. The teacher must also design a prereading activity that aligns with the merits of the selected text. Then, the class can begin an effective close reading session. In the sections that follow, we consider the details of text selection, teacher preparation, student introduction to close reading, and prereading activities.
Text Selection
Choosing the correct text is an important consideration before bringing one into the classroom for close reading. This selection is more complex than it may appear at first because, while curricula are well-stocked with potential texts, not all of them are candidates for close reading. Indeed, some texts may not reveal much in close reading, while the complexity of others may frustrate beginning close readers.
There are a few technical factors that are important to consider when choosing a text.
• Student and teacher interest
• Level of complexity
• Type of text
• Passage length and purpose
Student and Teacher Interest
It is not always possible to choose a text that connects with student interests, but it does help to do so when possible, especially in the early stages of developing strong close readers. If students like the style and content of a text, they are likely to engage more as they discover the authorial moves, those choices an author intentionally makes in a text and on which we want our students to focus. If students can learn to closely read texts they enjoy, they can apply the skill to other texts and expand their ideas of what makes a text important and worthy of reading. There are many methods for discovering the interests of students and applying them to the text selection. Early in the school year, a student-background survey might provide a teacher with insights about the activities and interests of his students, and this can be invaluable information as he chooses the texts he will teach.
There are many types of background surveys. See figure 2.1, which exemplifies the types of questions that might be on a survey. Such surveys will reveal much more than the specific interests of students, and teachers can use them in many ways. However, in selecting texts that meet with student interests, the survey information can be invaluable.
Source: Marzano Research, 2016c.
Figure 2.1: Sample survey questions.
Visit marzanoresearch.com/classroomstrategies for a free reproducible version of this figure.
In addition to student interest, teacher interest is important when selecting a text. Like any person, teachers love certain texts, those filled with words that jump off the page because of their own close reading and deep engagement. Teachers who bring that enthusiasm to students’ interaction with a text are likely to engender some similar level of appreciation in their students. On the other hand, any teacher will have to use texts they find uninspiring, and some of those texts may be ones they are supposed to like. When possible (and it isn’t always possible), teachers should avoid selecting these texts for close reading because prejudices are likely to show through as they share the texts with students. As a personal example, I have a lifelong relationship with William Shakespeare, not only as a teacher but also as an actor and a director. When I teach using Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I know my enthusiasm for these master works as a whole and for the numerous short passages I have students close read helps them appreciate the superb level of writing. Yet I avoid teaching Julius Caesar, not because I think it is a flawed play, but because I know I would lack the enthusiasm to do it justice. Being careful about one’s own feelings in the text selection is important to providing students with the best close reading experience possible.
At the same time, all teachers will encounter situations where required texts fail to inspire them. There are reasons some texts are in the curriculum; at some point, someone saw the value of that text. Teachers might revisit a text with an eye toward finding ways to be enthusiastic about it (or at least appreciate it). Literature teachers might read some literary criticism of the text to help discover its value and support their own growing appreciation of it. Social studies teachers could review the historical moment of a text or read an expert analysis of its impact to perhaps change their opinions. Teachers of any subject area can converse with colleagues about ways to connect with a text. When dealing with an uninspiring text, teachers should do their best to prevent their biases from impacting students’ experiences with that work.
Level of Complexity
Although student interest is an important factor, so is the level of complexity. The text must appropriately challenge students to increase their reading and analytical abilities (McKeown, Beck, & Blake, 2009). Obviously,