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INTRODUCTION

Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom is part of a series of books collectively referred to as The Classroom Strategies Series. This series aims to provide teachers, as well as building and district administrators, with an in-depth treatment of research-based instructional strategies that can be used in the classroom to enhance student achievement. Many of the strategies addressed in this series have been covered in other works, such as Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001), Classroom Management That Works (Marzano, 2003), The New Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2017), and Effective Supervision (Marzano, Frontier, & Livingston, 2011). Although those works devoted a chapter or part of a chapter to particular strategies, The Classroom Strategies Series devotes an entire book to an instructional strategy or set of related strategies.

The purpose of this book is to provide a method and associated strategies to secondary classroom teachers for introducing and developing students’ skill of close reading. Today, with the emphasis on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), as well as individual state standards on literacy and critical thinking, close reading has become a vital skill for all secondary students (whether or not they pursue postsecondary education). Further, close reading is a skill that applies far beyond the English language arts classroom. Thus, Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom is aimed at a wide range of secondary teachers, not only those who teach traditional reading curricula. The strategies suggested here are useful in the mathematics and physical education classrooms just as much as they are in an English language arts or social studies classroom.

Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom begins with a discussion of why close reading is a vital skill to secondary students. The first chapter defines close reading, describes its importance, and discusses the history of literary criticism. The specific steps of the close reading process are listed at the end of the chapter.

The six steps of this process include:

1. Prereading (covered in chapter 2)

2. Reading twice and annotating (covered in chapter 3)

3. Generating questions (covered in chapter 4)

4. Reading analytically (covered in chapter 4)

5. Discussing as a class or analyzing individually (covered in chapter 5)

6. Using processing activities (covered in chapter 5)

Please note that chapters 4 and 5 each cover two steps. Chapters 2 through 5 present a thorough discussion of each step in the close reading process, with instructional strategies and suggestions for implementing each step in the classroom. On the whole, this process provides students with a structure for understanding and mastering close reading of challenging texts. Chapter 6 briefly examines the issues around planning for and assessment of close reading with secondary students. Because close reading is a robust and complicated skill that will be used in most classrooms throughout the entire school year, teachers need to consider special issues when planning instruction and assessment.

Definition of Close Reading

For some people, close reading means re-encountering the text many times, gaining insights through the response of the reader to new elements in the text with each additional reading. For others, close reading is the act of focusing on a selection of text with a particular lens, looking at what the text has to offer when one looks for something specific.

In this book, close reading is a way to drill down into a selected text and approach what an author is doing on a deep level. An easy way to further define close reading is to see the activity as an attempt to deeply understand a text by looking at the author’s choices and their effects. As noted in this resource, students need to focus on the formalist elements of the text for creating meaning. Once they have identified meaning through these methods, they may find enhanced importance to their own reaction to the text. We live in a world of accountability in public education, and that accountability sometimes comes in the form of standardized tests. In a test situation, it is especially important for the student to be able to analyze the text in a manner that arrives at a commonly accepted meaning—one that can be a correct answer to a test item. Forms of analysis based outside the text are too subjective. One cannot know a great deal about the author’s intentions, and one can often know too much about the reader’s reactions. When a reader first encounters a text, he or she often ponders what is happening. In other words, the reader first wants to understand plot, literal meaning, and other surface-level concerns. Beyond that, the reader might wonder what the author is doing in the text. Such analysis is deeper than asking what is happening because it looks to the effect a text has on the reader. A text may create an emotional response in the reader, it may emphasize a point, or an author may attempt to manipulate the reader’s response in some way. These, and potentially an infinite number of additional responses, may legitimately answer the question of what the author is doing.

When an author creates an effect, identifying it is relatively pointless if the reader doesn’t go on to ask the obvious follow-up questions of “Why?” and “How?” Depending on the text, these questions can take many forms, such as the following examples.

• Why would an author choose to develop a feeling of sadness?

• What is the effect of the author’s emerging purpose in the passage?

• Further, how is the author creating that feeling of ________?

• What word choice is the author employing?

• What imagery, symbols, syntax, and point of view is the author using?

• What is the specific effect of each choice on the reader, and what is the cumulative effect of the choices on the passage?

Once a student can accurately answer questions like these, he or she can be said to be close reading a passage.

Close reading allows the reader to participate with the author in his or her project, not simply as a receiver but as a thinking, feeling, responding, and intelligent human being. This has value for the reader. Students will begin to understand the power of the written word, the way the author’s agenda affects their world, and they will develop the ability to respond thoughtfully to an author’s ideas. If one of the purposes of K–12 education is to develop well-informed, reasoning, thoughtful citizens, close reading is an essential skill (Student Achievement Partners, 2016).

Let’s be clear about what close reading is not. Close reading is not a series of reader responses loosely tied to a text. The meaning the reader generates may or may not be valid. Validity emerges out of a close examination of a text in light of a reader’s response. If the text—through careful, accurate analysis—supports that response, then the reader’s response is valid and meaningful.

Close reading offers the analytical tools and the common nomenclature that can start a discussion about meaning. It is a technique with universal content-area application, but it takes years to develop in students. The aim of this book is to offer the methods and teaching suggestions that will allow students to gain this valuable skill, a skill that will serve them beyond their secondary education.

How to Use This Book

Educators can use Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom as a self-study text that provides an in-depth understanding of close reading as a process and an instructional strategy. Each chapter provides useful instructional strategies or ideas related to developing the ability of students to effectively close read. As you progress through the chapters, you will also find comprehension questions at the end of chapters 2 through 6. It is important to complete these questions and compare your answers with those in appendix A (page 101). Such interaction provides a review of the content and allows a thorough examination of your understanding. Groups or teams of teachers who wish to examine close reading in their classrooms may also use Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom. Team members should answer the questions independently and then compare their answers in small- or large-group settings. Appendix B (page 107) includes three examples of close reading: two literary and one informational. The examples observe a classroom and the teacher’s real-time interactions with students.