Running head: CLOSE READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION

Close Reading Strategies and Comprehension

Stephanie Markle
Franciscan University of Steubenville

CLOSE READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION

Introduction
Reading is the key to acquiring new information, however if the information is not being
comprehended people are not able to acquire information from reading. This reading without
comprehending is a problem with applying their academic literacy skills and this is a common
problem among struggling readers. The NCES (2003) presented data that showed that eight
million students between 4th and 12th grade struggled with reading in the United States.
Intervention programs can cost school districts quite a bit of money so what solution can be
offered? Close reading is a new strategy for helping students better be able to comprehend
informational texts. Close reading is defined as, To investigate the specific strength of a literary
work in as many details as possible. It also means understanding how a text works, how it creates
its effects on the most minute level (Mikics, 2007, p. 61). Close reading strategies usually
involve students annotating as they read, answering text dependent questions, doing repeated
readings, participating in class discussion, and analyzing short complex texts. These strategies
could assist students in comprehending what they read in order to gain new information and
vocabulary. Teachers must promote comprehension in their classroom to help their students
become effective readers.
Purpose
Many middle schools are having a difficult time meeting the needs of their struggling
readers since they do not have the money or resources to invest in expensive reading intervention
programs. Teachers are looking into close reading strategies as a solution for this problem since
close reading promotes higher-level learning and comprehension of text without investing extra
money. Through research, I plan to answer the question: does close reading have a positive
affect on students ability to comprehend a text and does close reading promote metacognition? I

CLOSE READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION

want to find out if close reading will really help students to achieve higher-level learning and a
deeper understanding of the text.
One of the goals that I will accomplish is teaching close reading strategies to a group of
10 to 15 sixth grade students by teaching a lesson and modeling the strategies for them. I hope to
see how this strategy of close reading will affect the students comprehension. I also hope to see
if close reading will help students use metacognition and self-monitoring when reading
independently. I will have a control group of 10 to 15 students in the same class participating in
the same work to compare my results to. Through this experimental research I hope to find out if
close reading aids students in understanding a text more deeply than just reading a text does.
I think my research will show that close reading has a positive affect on students
comprehension levels. I predict that my research will show that students do better when asked to
participate in close reading strategies and that students will be able to read more independently
through the use of the self-monitoring strategies close reading promotes.
Review of the Literature
Fisher and Frey (2014) seek to find a solution for expensive intervention programs for
struggling readers. They did a study on 7th and 8th grade students to see if close reading would
improve the scores of the adolescents. In their experimental research study, Fisher and Frey
focused on these aspects of close reading: multiple readings of short complex texts, annotations,
questions that required evidence from the text, and discussion of the text that including
argumentative discussion. This study surveyed a total of three hundred and twenty-two students
in three schools in three different middle schools. All these students scored in the bottom 40% of
the criterion test. Two hundred and forty-seven of the students served as control group members
while the remaining seventy-five were in the experimental group. At the end of the year the

CLOSE READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION

experimental group scored 4.02 out of five on average while the control group scored 2.31 on
average. Out of the 75 students in the experimental group 48 (64%) of them achieved at least
one level higher, 26 (35%) received the same score on a more difficult test, and one (1%) student
did worse than the year before. Out of the 247 students in the control group 30 (12%) of them
achieved at least one higher level, 181 (73%) received the same score on a more difficult test,
and 36 (15%)did worse than the year before. The authors conclusion, based on the results, was
that close reading was a successful practice for improving comprehension.
This article addressed a problem that I have been very interested in ever since I worked
with a struggling reader in my experience in Harding Middle School. How do school districts
assist struggling readers in middle schools when they do not have the time to work one on one or
the money to invest in expensive intervention programs? I just recently learned about close
reading so I was excited to learn about how it affected students learning in middle school. I
really liked that the study was performed across a wide demographic and I was very excited to
read the results. I have always enjoyed analyzing text and Im happy that this is a solution that I
will be able to utilize in my classroom. If there was anything that I did not like about the journal,
it was just that I wanted there to be a few more practical ways to implement close reading in the
classroom and how you would go about integrating that into the classroom instead of an after
school program. So for future research I hope that they look into how this strategy can be
incorporated into the classroom to help students understanding.
Billings and Roberts (2013) state that speaking and listening skills are the key to leading
students to better reading, writing, and thinking skills. The authors looked at the close reading of
complex texts, formal discussion of the text, and the planning drafting, and writing of essays. A
6th grade science teacher, Melissa Hedt, was interviewed in this journal to see what her opinion

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on this method was after implementing Paideia seminars in her science classroom. Paideia
seminars require students to use higher level thinking after employing close reading of a complex
text. The students in Ms. Hedts class had a discussion on the book Frankenstein and were
required to come prepared with thoughtful comments on what they thought of the book. The
teacher led them with text-based discussion questions and then the students delved deeper into
the subject by bringing up their own thoughts on the subject. The students know they have to
support their claims with evidence from the text and should there be disagreements they must be
brought up in a civil manner. Ms. Hedt did a yearlong study of the affect oral discussion had on
the students writing with seven other teachers at Asheville Middle School. Their preliminary
findings found that discussion had a positive affect on students writing. The results also showed
that students were more engaged and comprehended the text better.
I found a lot of helpful information in this article for my action research paper. I was
glad this journal focused on a science classroom and how close reading and formal discussion
helped them with comprehension. Several of the students commented on how they felt like their
opinion was listened to and valued more when they were participating in these seminars. I was
surprised that just changing the way students did discussion had such a change in how students
felt about participating. The teacher just called the discussion a seminar instead and the students
rose to that level and participated in higher-level thinking. I had never learned about close
reading before this semester so Im very excited when I read these articles and find that there are
so many different parts that all lead to helping students comprehend text better. The only thing
that I wanted this article to have more of was the results from the study. This journal only had
their preliminary results so Im very interested to know what their final results were. For future
research I hope that they will update their findings so we can look at their final results.

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Hinchman and Moore (2013) address the positive and negative aspects of close reading
strategies in their article. The authors point out that throughout the history of education there
have been several literacy reforms. These reforms include shifts in literacy texts and text
dependent questions. The common core state standards are also addressed in this article as the
authors try to show how the standards emphasize close reading. Close reading does not involve
looking at the authors life or the historical background it is a close and analytical look at the text
alone. The authors also point out six areas in which close reading could fall short if not
supplemented properly. Text complexity and text range are two of the main issues with close
reading since the first can be too complicated and the latter not broad enough. Pre-reading is
also another important skill for comprehension that close reading does not support. Finally,
disciplinary instruction, discussion, and strategy instruction can be different in close reading than
in normal reading so this could confuse both students and teachers. The authors conclude by
saying that they hope teachers will continue to have their students participate in purposeful close
reading and not just an ironic version that involves re-reading a text that is too complicated.
I really appreciated the points the authors made about the close reading strategy.
They pointed out several times in their article that close reading is not a perfect solution. The
authors really want educators to be aware that they cannot just have their students participate in
close reading if they want their students to succeed. They suggested that teachers use a
combination of strategies to help their students succeed, similar to how comprehension requires a
combination of strategies. These literacy experts also mentioned being surprised at close
readings sudden rise to fame given the lack of empirical studies done on close readings
effectiveness. I was glad they pointed this out, since after doing research on this topic I found
that empirical articles are few and far between. Despite their shock at close readings popularity,

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the authors gave a brief history of how close reading came about. They said that it began with
articles such as, How to Read a Book and How Does a Poem Mean. I think that this article
will be helpful for my action research in both defining close reading and giving a history of close
reading. I do wish that this article had been a little clearer when describing the negative aspects
of close reading because I got a little confused while reading about whether they were unhappy
about the aspect or pleased with the aspect. For further research I hope that they address some of
the problems and offer solutions.
Reisman (2011) addressed the need for strategies to bridge the gap between normal
memorization of facts and historical thinking. She implemented a Thinking Like a Historian
curriculum to see how it would affect students comprehension, factual knowledge, and historical
thinking. She wrote three papers on a study she did of 236 eleventh grade students in five urban
San Francisco public schools. Her first paper addressed the strategies and the implementation of
the study. In this paper she reports the quantitative results of the survey and lessons. Reisman
(2011) provided the teachers with 83 social studies lessons that required students to use sourcing,
contextualizing, corroboration, and close reading strategies. Pre and post tests were administered
to acquire the data from the 2X5 quasi-experiment. This study found that students that were
taught these 83 lessons and the strategies out-preformed the control groups across both reading
comprehension and historical thinking. This study concluded that sourcing and close reading
were very successful when taught explicitly for the treatment of the problem of reading
comprehension and historical thinking.
This research was extremely interesting. I have two concentration areas, but my favorite
by far is social studies. I really liked the way this research incorporated the close reading
strategies into social studies and thinking like a historian. This research provided new insights

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into using close reading across subject areas and I really liked that it did not just use this strategy
in a language arts class like so many of the other articles I read did. I got extremely confused
while reading this article. There were a lot of equations and statistics that I could not understand.
I read this part of the research several times to try and at least get the basic statistics, but I was
not able to figure out how to do that. She was also using a lot of terms that I did not understand
so it was difficult to figure out what his methodology was. I am still not sure what a quasi
experiment is. I looked up what a quasi experiment and after reading several different articles I
think it is an experiment that looks at natural occurrences, such as first-born children. This type
of experiment does not choose people at random either the researcher controls this. I thought the
content of this article was really good and am glad that I found an article that incorporated my
action research topic of close reading with social studies. I hope to use this paper in my action
research to show how close reading can be used across subject areas. For further research I think
it would be interesting to see why close reading is so successful when taught explicitly and why
contextualization and corroboration are not as successful. I would also like to see how middle
school students would do if provided with this same Thinking Like a Historian curriculum.
Methodology
The research methodology described in the following paragraphs is hypothetical and has
not actually been conducted. In this hypothetical research I would have conducted experimental
research through a close reading workshop with a classroom of 6th grade students. The class
would have been split evenly into a control group and a group that participated in the workshop.
This would have meant that the control group and group participating would be evenly spilt with
fourteen students in each group. This would have been a small, but focused group, to ensure that
close reading strategies were practiced and modeled thoroughly with students.

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Both groups of students would have been given the same informational text to read in
class. They would then have a standard set of comprehension questions to answer after reading
the article. The differences between these two studies would be how reading was approached
before and during the process. Before starting the informational text with the participating group
the close reading strategies would have been modeled and practiced with the students, such as
writing words they did not understand in the margins and writing down ideas or new information
they found as they read. After this strategy had been practiced several time students would be
given the information text and asked to use the strategies they have just learned while reading the
text.
After both groups in the class have read their informational texts, they would be given
higher-level comprehension questions to answer about the text. These questions would be text
dependent questions that require the students to apply the new information they just learned. The
students would really have to have comprehended the information in order to be able to
formulate thoughtful responses to the questions. The two groups would both have to answer
these questions and the two groups scores would be compared to see if there were any
differences.
In this hypothetical study, the differences between the two groups would be looked at.
The previous scores on comprehension questions would also be looked to see how much
improvement students made. The differences that were found between the students who
participated and who were the control group would then be averaged and transferred into a
percentage. The students individual improvement in the participating group would also be
looked at. The difference between their original scores from previous comprehension questions

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and those that they took after using close reading strategies would be averaged and turned into
percentages.
Findings
The following research results are hypothetical and based on research that was
conducted. The results are based on what the results could have looked like if the experimental
research had actually been conducted. The following data is what is thought would have
occurred had the research actually been carried out. This data is supported by the research that
has already been conducted by several researchers in different settings. Reisman (2011) found
that students who were taught the strategies out preformed students who were not in both
comprehension and historical thinking. Zimmerman (2011) also had great success with his
research and saw that 60 percent of students improved their scores after they participated in close
reading strategies. Research shows that close reading has a positive affect on students
comprehension of informational texts. Given the lack of empirical studies done on this topic, the
research showing the positive results is limited. Although most results of research have been
positive for close reading the percentages were not improved by a large amount. Based on this
limited data, the group of participating students only had an average improvement rate over their
last round of comprehension questions by 3 percent.
Figure 1 shows the hypothetical improvement of students after practicing close reading
while reading an informational text. The students before and after scores are displayed. These
scores were the grades they got on comprehension questions before they knew what close
reading strategies were and then after they had used close reading strategies. On average
students improved by 3 percentage points compared to their comprehension questions before
close reading. All the students improved except for student 10 who got the same score both

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times. This hypothetical data shows the hopeful success of close reading as strategies to improve
comprehension and metacognition.

12

CLOSE READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION

Figure 1

120

100

80

60
Before
40

20

After

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Figure 2 illustrates the results between the control group and the participating group. The
control groups average score before was 82 percent. The control group scored an average of 81
percent on the comprehension questions that were administered during the research, losing one
percentage point compared to their before score. The participating group scored an average of
86 percent on their comprehension questions before the workshop was conducted. After the
workshop was administered and the close reading strategies were modeled students in the control
group improved their scores by 3 percentage points on average. The participating groups
average score after was 89 percent and the control groups average score was 81 percent. The
results of the research were that the participating group scored 8 percentage points higher on the
comprehension questions than the control group.
Figure 2

Contol Group

Before
After
Participating Group

76

78

80

82

84

86

88

90

These results are meant to show the success and positive affect close reading can have on
students comprehension and metacognition. Close reading can play a very important role in the
success of struggling readers in middle school without the cost of intervention programs. Close
reading may not be something that is tested, but given the fact that greater comprehension skills

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14

assist students in achieving better grades on tests they still influence test scores. Comprehension
is a key aspect of the SAT and ACT and close reading strategies could help students be able to
achieve better scores. Though there is not very much research concerning close reading, the
research that has been done shows very positive results. These sets of data support the positive
results of this hypothetical research.
Recommendations
This research was hypothetical and was not able to be conducted due to limited interest.
One of the keys to improving interest in close reading is to preform more research on this topic.
There have been very few empirical studies done to support this topic and if more were done
people would trust this strategy more. In their article Hinchman and Moore (2013) pointed out
the lack of research done to support the sudden rise in close reading. While close reading is a
good strategy to promote comprehension the strategy is not being utilized because teachers feel
like teaching their students close reading strategies is a waste of time. In n conversation I had
with a teacher about close reading the teacher said close reading is unnecessary and a waste of
time since it is not tested. While close reading is not tested, as stated before, close reading
improves comprehension, which is an important part of any test or reading.
Other researchers should conduct more studies on close reading and its affect on students.
This research is limited due to the lack of interest and availability of schools and classes willing
to participate. More research needs to be done with studies on the actual role it plays in
comprehension. I would recommend that research be conducted over a longer period of time and
with a broader range. There needs to be more extensive research done to see if close reading is a
solution to the ever growing problem of struggling readers in the middle and upper grades. If

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students are still struggling to read at grade level once they graduate they will not have the
literacy skills necessary to be a part of the work force or attend college.
Close reading could be an affective way to combat the issue of struggling readers, but
more research must be conducted. Teachers, professionals, and researchers, must collaborate and
communicate what kind of results they are having with these strategies. I was very surprised at
the lack of information present on this topic and I do not believe that this is from a lack of using
the strategies. We have to communicate what works and what does not with our fellow
educators. This allows us all to ensure that we are using the best strategies and tools to promote
literacy. In conclusion, more research and studies must be done on the topic of close reading and
the data discovered must be shared with the education world to promote literacy.

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References
Billings, L., & Roberts, T. (2013). Think like a seminar. Educational Leadership, 70(4), 68-72.

Cummins, S. (2013). What students can do when the reading gets rough. Educational
Leadership, 71(3), 69-72.

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Close reading as an intervention for struggling middle school
readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57(5), 367-376.

Hinchman, K., & Moore, D. (2013). Close reading: A cautionary interpretation. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(6), 441-450.
Mikics, D. (2007). A new handbook of literary terms. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (2003). Nations report card: Reading 2002.
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Reisman, A. (2011). Reading like a historian: A document-based history curriculum intervention
in urban high schools. Cognition and Instruction, 30(1), 86-112.

Zimmerman, M. (2011). Increasing secondary reading comprehension and reading proficiency

across content areas. Online Submission.

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Appendix A- Information Article

Link to Informational Article: https://newsela.com/articles/paris-attacks/id/13061/

Paris is stunned after wave of terror attacks across the

city
By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff
11.16.15
PARIS, France - Gunmen unleashed a coordinated wave of attacks in Paris, France, Friday night
that left more than 132 people dead, more than 350 injured and generated scenes of horror. The
French government declared a state of emergency and secured its borders in response.
Taken together, the assaults represented the deadliest day of attacks in France since World War II.
It was one of the worst terror strikes on a Western country since Sept. 11, 2001, in New York. At
half a dozen sites across Paris, attackers carried out suicide bombings, hurled grenades and shot
hostages.
The killers targeted places throughout the city where tourists and residents were enjoying a
typical Friday night. Soccer games, concerts and evening meals at cafes were all suddenly
disrupted. The sounds of explosions and gunfire could be heard throughout the city.
Late into the night and early Saturday morning, heavily armed French security forces flooded the
streets. Residents and tourists sought safety indoors.

French President Vows Revenge

It was the second time this year that Paris has been a scene of mass murder. In January, Islamic
extremists attacked the newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish-owned supermarket, leaving 17
dead. Charlie Hebdo was targeted because of cartoons it published of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad.
The latest violence will only heighten tensions in Europe. The continent is already on edge from
the strain of a huge flow of migrants from the Middle East, southern Asia and Africa. At the same
time, Islamist extremism has been growing as some people have grown angry at governments in
the Middle East and the West. European political leaders are in disagreement about how to
handle the problems facing the continent.
World leaders rushed to condemn the Paris attacks, and French President Franois Hollande
vowed revenge. "We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless," Hollande said.
"Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities, they must be certain that they
are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself
be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow."

Attack Planning Went Undetected

Within minutes of the first reports on the violence, Islamic State supporters celebrated the
atrocities online. They created Internet hashtags hailing "Paris in flames" and declaring that
"ISIS is attacking Paris," the Vocativ website reported.
The Islamic State is an extremist group, also known as ISIS. It wants to start its own country
under Islamic law. Its fighters have taken over parts of Syria. Some of northern and western Iraq

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is also under its control.

On Saturday, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, and Hollande went on
television to blame the group.
The attacks required extensive coordinating. The scale of which will prompt questions about how
the planning for such an operation was not detected by French intelligence services.
The French government at first announced that all eight of the attackers had been killed. Yet on
Sunday, French police said that while six attackers had detonated explosives and one was shot
and killed by police, an eighth was urgently being sought.

Gunfire, Explosions In Concert Hall

The scene of the worst bloodshed was the 19th-century Bataclan concert hall, one of the city's
most famous music venues. About 1,000 people had gathered there for a show by an American
rock band.
As attacks took place elsewhere in the city, gunmen stormed the music hall. Witnesses said three
or four men, clad in black, used assault rifles to shoot audience members.
Police surrounded the building as explosions and gunfire could be heard. The police moved in.
As they did so, the attackers blew themselves up with explosive belts, police said. Inside, officers
found some 100 people dead, the city's deputy mayor, Patrick Klugman, said.
Government workers guided survivors, wrapped in gold-colored heat blankets, down the street to
waiting buses. Several had blood spattered on their clothing. Some cried. Most declined to talk
with reporters.

President Hollande Declares State Of Emergency

At other sites across the city, attacks left dozens more dead.
At the soccer match, terrified fans streamed on to the field. Police kept them from leaving after
suicide bombers detonated explosives outside the stadium. The blasts near the stadium prompted
authorities to evacuate Hollande. The president was among thousands watching a friendly match
between France and Germany.
Across Paris, normal city life came to an abrupt halt. Subway lines were shut down, and
authorities advised residents to stay indoors. People who had been on the street in areas near the
attacks fled in a panic.
Hollande went on national television Friday night to announce a state of emergency. France will
beef-up security at its borders and send 1,500 army troops to Paris to back up police.
Late on Sunday, France's Defense Ministry said French warplanes had launched a ferocious
retaliatory assault on targets in Raqqa, Syria, the Islamic State's de facto capital, after
coordinating with U.S. defense officials. The ministry said 10 aircraft dropped 20 bombs on
facilities used by the militant group.

President Obama Says U.S. Stands With France

The border controls came as Europe's tradition of free movement between countries is at risk of
ending. Despite rules for passport-free travel, Sweden began border checks this week to better
control the migrant crisis. Slovenia rolled out razor wire on its border with Croatia.
While the new French border controls were expected to be strict, international airlines and trains
were still operating.

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In Washington, President Barack Obama offered condolences to the French people and promised
U.S. help "to bring these terrorists to justice."
He said the wave of violence was not just an assault on France. Obama called it "an attack on all
of humanity and the universal values we share."

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Appendix B- Comprehension Questions

1. Write a short paragraph that explains the central idea of the article. Use at least two
details from the article to support your response.
2. Read the sentence from the section "French President Vows Revenge."
World leaders rushed to condemn the Paris attacks, and French President Franois Hollande
vowed revenge.
Which of the following answer choices could replace the word "condemn" in the sentence
WITHOUT changing the meaning of the sentence?
A
avenge
B
denounce
C
confirm
D
retaliate
3. According to the introduction [paragraphs 1-4], which of the following conclusions would
be accurate?
A
France has never seen similar violence within its borders.
B
French authorities disagree about how to respond to the violence.
C
The attackers made specific plans for carrying out the violence.
D
The violent attacks took place at random areas around the city.
4. Read the paragraph from the section "President Hollande Declares State Of
Emergency."
Hollande went on national television Friday night to announce a state of emergency. France will
beef-up security at its borders and send 1,500 army troops to Paris to back up police.
Which answer choice BEST represents the meaning of the phrase "beef-up" as used in the
sentence?
A
detract
B
construct
C
diminish
D
reinforce
5. Which paragraph from the section "French President Vows Revenge" describes another
crisis that Europe is currently facing?

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