Professional Book Study

Deeper Reading:
Focusing the Reader
By Kelly Gallagher

Sarah Smith & Skyla Sale

Deeper Reading Overview

Tis the good reader that makes the good book.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Focusing the Reader

First Draft Reading

Comprehension through second draft reading

The Art of Teaching Deeper Reading

Focus Questions
What are the differences between
talking and truly communicating?
If someone made a decision for you,
what would your reaction be? What if
that person was someone you loved?
Take 4 minutes to write your response
to one of both of the above questions.

Why Focus Questions?

To get students heads back to where
they were when we left off the day before
(Gallagher)
Two types of questions:
Text-dependent
Point to a specific moment in the text theyre
reading, requires reading and comprehension

Text-independent
Point to big ideas or themes in the text theyre
reading, prepare students for ideas they will
encounter in future reading

Ernest Hemingway
(1939-1961)
American novelist, short story
writer, and journalist
Raised in Oak Park, Illinois
World War I ambulance
driver, where he was
seriously wounded
Lived in Paris, Chicago,
Toronto, Key West, and Idaho
Four marriages
Committed suicide at age 61

Notable Works
The Old Man and the Sea
A Farewell to Arms
The Sun Also Rises
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Hills Like White Elephants

Awards
Nobel Prize in Literature (1954)
Pulitzer Price for Fiction (1953)
Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious
Service in a Combat Zone (1947)

Importance of Focusing the Reader

Breaking into scaffolding: Affluent
Bears
Providing students with background
knowledge
Focusing on what were about to do
Eventually leading to more meaningful
reflections

Why Anticipation
Guides?

Can be used to frame the major ideas and

themes that students will find in the book
(Gallagher)
Help them understand that as long as
books have been written, literature has
expressed individual truths about the
human condition (Gallagher)
Also helps students see (and have a record
of) any shifts in their thinking as a result of
reading a specific work.

Closure
Revisiting your anticipation guide,
choose one statement youre most
looking forward to seeing develop in
the story.
Bonus strategy: Gallagher also
recommends using these hot
button topic statements for essay
springboards at the end of the unit.