Close Reading

Olivia Dennis, Celena Molina, Tyler Waller

 What Is Close Reading?
A strategy that allows readers to dig deeper into a text by:
● Reading and re-reading the text to gather meaning and
determine the author’s purpose.
● Highlighting important vocabulary words and using context clues
to figure out the meaning of them.
● Providing evidence and support for answers to comprehension
questions by using the text itself.

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 ESL Benefits
● By close reading students are able to dive deeper
into a text to grasp a better understanding of the
content while analyzing, interpreting, and inferring
using a variety of literacy skills.
● This strategy helps students to understand the
purpose of the text that they are reading.
● Close reading allows these students to break down
a text in order to discover context clues to assist
them in proper comprehension and retainment of
what they are reading.
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 Standards- 4th grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text
relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.8
Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2
Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the
text.

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 Objectives
Content Objectives
SWBAT… make connections from prior knowledge in order to
create new room for new knowledge.
SWBAT… identify the main purpose of a text.
SWBAT… determine if a text is written in first, second, or third
person.

Language Objectives
SWBAT… identify unknown words.
SWBAT… use context clues to decode unknown words.
SWBAT… define unknown words.
 Activity
Directions: While you read the article below, take notes to help you point out main points,
questions you have, and write down words you may be unfamiliar with. While you continue
reading see if there are any context clues that can help you figure out the definition to these
words or anything that can help answer your question. Once you have read the article, go to
the google sheet and write down a word you didn't know, the definition, and what context
clues helped you figure this out.
Article:
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/rhinos-airlifted-to-new-home/

Google sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yX38GMx7LDup_X6qAKjKFbCkXaEm_YC6ZLyyf1f
M_K0/edit?usp=sharing
 Assessment Strategies
Formative
- Students discuss a text and have their annotations out. As they
chat, the teacher walks around and reads through annotations
to make sure they balance critical thought with comprehension.

Summative
- During a Socratic Seminar, close reading is essential to
generating meaningful questions. The questions and dialogue
are the summative assessment.

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 Discussion Questions
1. How is Close Reading beneficial for ESL students?

2. How could you implement this strategy into your

classroom? Give examples of some activities you
could do.
Resources