Innovative Close Reading Ideas for Teachers

If you are trying to make your students a better reader then teaching them how to close read will help them a lot. Close reading is a very simple and easy way to take students through multiple readings to increase comprehension. You have to make sure that students applying these skills do not get bored, so it must be spiced up to look attractive. Here, we are going to discuss top ways to innovate your lessons.

Make them think beyond PIE: While reading, students might be thinking about what exactly the author wants to say and why. Students should learn the basics first Persuade, Inform, Entertain (PIE) and once they have you can expand their thinking about the purpose of the author by letting them feel the text expression and what exactly the author has done to create it.

Signposts for better understanding: Traditionally we teach students about the importance of titles, characters’ names, setting and the opening lines. In the book Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading, Kylene Beers and Robert E Probst have identified, signposts, that help students read texts with deeper understanding.

Close reading through song lyrics: The study of song lyrics, not only will enhance close reading skills, but also show how writers of every genre make choices. Lesson for the Middle or High School students, listen to Echosmith’s song, “Cool Kids” and follow along with the lyrics.

Try images for close reading: Use of cartoons or images that can introduce the process, or challenge your students to think about how close reading and the thinking that goes into it can be applied another way.

Use Article of the Week: In this article of Kelly Gallagher, he recognizes that part of the reason students struggle with reading is that they lack prior knowledge and background. They can decode the words, but the words remain meaningless, he assigns them an Article of the Week.

Make students work together: If you can go through “Teaching in Room 6” you might see an idea for making close reading even more collaborative with text-based opinion posters. Make your students up and moving around by posting text to close read on a whiteboard for them to work on.

Increase complexity: Challenge your students by increasing the ideas that are presented in the text they read.

Author study: Like the example from Teaching in Room 6, is a great way to see themes and analyze how a writer approaches language.

By: Aishwarya Sharma

Content: https://www.weareteachers.com/10-super-innovative-teacher-ideas-for-close-reading/?utm_content=1549242060&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook