How Will Close Reading Help You on the Ap Exam
Close read a novel. Text lawmaking the reading. Comment the book.
Whatever you lot phone call it, you lot know what is–the highlighting and color-coding in a novel or an article that basically killed whatever enjoyment that may take come from the reading, correct?
And yet, even though nosotros know no i likes to stop in the center of the action to take a note on characterization, text coding tin can be a valuable tool.
It forces meta-cognition . Students have to think about their thinking, which is just about the most difficult skill I tin think of.
Introduction
When I went to high schoolhouse, it was easy to spot the honors and AP students. They walked around with classic novels, probably written by old white guys, practically exploding with mail service-it notes and rainbows from all the highlighting they've done inside the pages.
I remember highlighting examples of tone, mood, foreshadowing, characterization, plot development–all color-coded accordingly.
This task became routine over my 4 years. Students in honors and AP English language courses expected to highlight until they dreamt in technicolor.
The regular form students would smile and nod at your novel, before saying, "Yeah, we watched the pic in class." They knew their selection had saved them from the pain and torment of endless annotation.
I wonder, though, why teachers force the highest achieving students to show their knowledge of bones literary terms over and over.
Anyone Tin Close Read a Novel
Through this exercise, I certainly came to appreciate an writer'due south ability and style improve. (Wow, Mary Shelley is really great at mood!) I definitely began to pinpoint these writing tools faster as I read.
But w hat did teachers always exercise westward ith these highlights?
Somewhen, your teacher checked off that y'all did it. It went in like a test score. And, maybe, if y'all chose to write a paper on a graphic symbol, those characterization highlights would show useful later.
Meanwhile, in the regular class, they watched the Odyssey for the third fourth dimension.
Now, I don't mean to diss my alma mater. I dear(d) that school and grew greatly from it.
Just why deny lower ability students the aforementioned tools and strategies that more advanced students get?
And why have higher-performing students, who volition do any dog and pony trick for an A, perform the aforementioned job over and over without a greater purpose?
Shut Read a Novel for Lower-Level Students
I work in a school where the reading levels tin can vary greatly. I've had a handful at a college reading level. Just most fall very brusque of grade level, even all the way downwardly to second-course reading level.
I accept special ed and ELL students. For the virtually part, we would never dream of handing them a novel and saying close read it. Except, that'southward just what I did.
This past school twelvemonth, I chose to start teaching Angie Thomas'due south The Detest U Requite (I swear I volition make it required reading in this district!).
It's the biggest book I've ever attempted to read with my students of varying abilities.
It's also the densest in relation to big ideas to talk virtually.
Considering Thomas's writing style is and so truthful to real-life, my students wouldn't have besides many comprehension issues. That meant less time summarizing.
I wanted my students instead to focus on those large ideas . What is Angie Thomas trying to say with her writing, and practice you lot agree with her?
But that timeline was a problem. It's a lot of book to encompass, significant too much grade time will be taken up with reading. There won't be fourth dimension to transfer all the cute quotes in this novel to various graphic organizers.
That'due south where close reading came in.
Close Read a Novel Tip #1: Know Your Goal
Students, specially the ones prone to only doing the bare minimum, demand to meet the point.
Reluctant readers or those below form level are non going to desire to practice any you inquire for no reason. They need to take a goal that makes sense to them.
Combining a learning target or skill AND the final assessment into one makes for the best goal. (I personally dear accurate assessments.)
For example, for The Hate U Give in my class the final summative assessment was a round table discussion in small groups with other staff members from the building (the librarian, instructional motorcoach, etc.).
Before we fifty-fifty started reading the novel, I gave students copies of the questions they would be asked to discuss on give-and-take mean solar day. Due eastach question correlated to a major theme in Thomas'southward novel.
I expected their responses to have textual evidence . South o as they read, I asked students to highlight quotes related to each question/theme.
Instead of having something broad to look for (can you really expect anyone to highlight every example of characterization or tone throughout a book?) I was having educatee narrowly focus in on just the quotes and passages they would need for their final discussion.
Students understood why they were highlighting (fifty-fifty if they weren't thrilled virtually it).
Close Read a Novel Tip #two Be Specific
Tell students what to wait for, and how to mark it.
For my class, students knew they were looking for quotes that helped them answer the five questions or touched on the five key themes we were analyzing.
They had copies of these questions in their reading journals. I projected t he questions onto the lath every day nosotros read for quick reference.
I also told the student exactly what color to highlight each idea. This color key was on the board every single day and projected with the questions during reading.
I also reviewed our procedures for marking important quotes every day earlier reading and reminded them how of import having these quotes was going to exist for their final word.
Close Read a Novel Tip #3: Scaffold!
My students panicked. Close reading is hard considering there is no "right" respond.
This makes students incredibly uncomfortable.
Complimentary thinking is difficult.
We read the first chapter together. I told them not to worry. If they felt brave and confident enough to highlight or leave a annotation, they could. But I would give them some examples.
When we finished, my students already had a lot to say. (I mean, if you've read the novel, you know what I mean.)
In addition to marker the themes, I too encouraged students to notation places where they made a connection. Nosotros started there.
Students shared relatable parts of the first chapter (sneaking to a political party y'all weren't supposed to be at, the slang they used, Starr'south love of sneaker, unfortunately, being at a party when gunshots went off, etc.).
Then I pointed them to the theme of hate. A few confident students started the conversation by suggesting broad scenes (the fight, the gunshots).
You Virtually Can't Model Also Much
I opened upwards my book and showed them how I constitute what I idea was the most important sentence or two of each scene. Then, I highlighted these lines in front of them. (I did this nether the dr. photographic camera, and then they could lookout man me do it.)
I wrote a note on a mail-it that connected the quote to the theme and placed information technology side by side to the highlighted passage. Many students copied exactly what I did, and that's ok. At that place are 400 more pages for them to make their own notes!
Modeling is such an important scaffold for close reading a whole volume. Students need to meet and hear again and again how others determined what was important.
Students caught on to what I wanted them to do apace, although their conviction was slower.
For the get-go week or so of reading, I modeled and showed them what I found. Later every reading, I asked students what they had thought was important enough to highlight.
Nosotros had great conversations–is this quote related to this theme or that? Do nosotros run into a symbol developing here? It will take fourth dimension; don't exist afraid to model and reteach.
Close Read a Novel Tip #four: Encourage Students and Use Loftier-Quality Feedback
If you lot think information technology's important, then information technology's not incorrect.
At least, that's what I told my students. If they could lucifer their called quotes to a theme and include a annotation explaining why/how it's important, they got total credit.
I just expected 3-5 high-quality quotes for about every 75-100 pages. This is an like shooting fish in a barrel feat with Thomas'southward masterpiece (high quality to me meant the quote was highlighted in a color that made sense and had a post-information technology side by side to information technology explaining how that quote ties in with the larger thematic questions).
If you have more advanced students, or if you've done this before, you could, of course, increase that expectation.
With Specific Feedback, Students Operation Will Amend
I prepare expectations low for grading purposes to ease their feet about "getting it wrong." In the end, their annotations only went into the grade book for 5 determinative points: a drib in the bucket in my class.
Every time I checked their annotations, however, I left post-its with highly detailed feedback.
Sometimes information technology was "C'mon, you tin practise it. I can't assistance y'all if yous don't try" when students turned in blank books.
Some students felt comfortable highlighting, but not actually leaving notes with their ideas. For these students, I offered general questions that could apply to pretty much annihilation. (Why would Angie Thomas include this quote in the volume? What does Angie Thomas mean by this? Do you concord with the author here?)
For more than advanced students, I encouraged them to take their thoughts further. (How does this bear witness Starr'due south development as a character?).
Grading each novel only took a couple of minutes, but information technology was wonderful to be able to exit high-quality feedback with each student and spotter them improve over the class of the novel.
In the future, I might try conferences with students one-on-ane to more thoroughly explain my responses.
Close Read a Novel Tip #5: Supply the Tools They Will Need
This is perhaps the hardest tip because you can't necessarily practice it yourself.
I am ever in favor of teachers using every bit piffling of their own money as possible (this job shouldn't cost us money).
However, many students just won't exercise the work if in that location are simple obstacles in front end of them like non having a bluish highlighter.
I am lucky enough to have an incredibly supportive principal and to work in a relatively small schoolhouse. For this upcoming school yr, he agreed to buy me books for each of my students to keep and all the highlighters and post-its I need.
I think seeing the amazing engagement from doing this unit spoke for itself!
If you can't find the funding y'all demand, you tin inquire students to buy their ain copies or bring in their own supplies. Some might.
But I would also look to other avenues. Teachers are first-class bootstrappers, but DonorsChoose is always a great start step.
Once you lot have the supplies, make certain y'all have a identify for students to store them and go on them organized.
Trusting students with i book, 1 stack of post-its, and five highlighters each almost gave me a nervous breakup. Merely the only thing that went missing was one highlighter cap (subsequently recovered).
I gave students everything they needed in a colossal Ziploc purse.
On Day One, we put our names on the book, the reading journal, and the Ziploc handbag itself. I made it very clear that southupplies were to remain in the handbag and stay in the room, unless students cruel behind in the novel.
Decision
All in all, if you give your students purpose, accept high expectations, and help them navigate their failures, I think you'll be surprised by their insights while text coding.
Later looking at their notes and highlights, I learned a lot more than nearly my private students. Eespecially where they wrote downwardly connections to the text.
My advanced students were not limited to the abilities of others. They could write as much as they wanted near the topic.
Meanwhile, the regular bank check-ins helped me guide my struggling readers.
Remember, if you are going to shut read a whole novel, make sure it has value. It can't just be for the sake of tradition or to keep students busy. If y'all value the piece of work, they will too.
Do yous need a place to become started? Y'all tin get all of myThe Hate U Give materials here, including the reading journal pictured in a higher place. I designed the journal to work synergistically with close reading strategies.
Source: https://itslitteaching.com/how-to-close-read-a-whole-novel-with-student-of-any-skill-level/
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