This document provides a framework and lessons for developing close reading skills to deeply comprehend informational texts. It begins with having students list words related to close reading and consolidating them. It then discusses the rationale for close reading and defines it as mindful analysis of a text's meaning at the word, phrase, sentence and paragraph levels. The document outlines lessons to build vocabulary, ask questions, determine importance and use close reading techniques when writing, speaking and having discussions about texts. The goal is for students to actively engage with texts and consider different perspectives.

1. CLOSE READING
Developing Skills to
Deeply Comprehend
Informational Texts

2. FIVE WORDS, THREE WORDS
1.Individually list five words related
to close reading
2.As a group of four, share the
words and consolidate the lists
into three words to share.

3. RATIONALE FOR CLOSE
READING

4. FRAMEWORK FOR CLOSE READING OF
INFORMATIONAL TEXTS
Reading
SpeakingWriting

5. READING

6. COMMON CORE ANCHOR
STANDARDS – READING
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1
Read closely to determine what the text
says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it; cite specific textual
evidence when writing or speaking to
support conclusions drawn from the text.

7. READING
“Brummett (2010) defines close reading as ‘the mindful,
disciplined reading of an object (i.e, text) with a view to
deeper understanding of its meaning’ (p. 3). When a student
engages in ‘close reading,’ he or she analyzes the text at the
word or phrase level and the sentence and paragraph levels.
~ Cummins, 2013

8. COMMON CORE ANCHOR
STANDARDS - WRITING
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to
examine and convey complex ideas and
information clearly and accurately through
the effective selection, organization, and
analysis of content.

9. WRITING “When students write about the
central ideas conveyed in a text [read-
aloud], they have to actively engage in
critical thinking. This includes
considering what they do and do not
understand about the ideas in the text
and what they think about those

10. COMMON CORE ANCHOR
STANDARDS - SPEAKING
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1
Prepare for and participate effectively in a
range of conversations and collaborations
with diverse partners, building on others’
ideas and expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.

11. SPEAKING
“The primary purposes of facilitating discourse
are to help students become aware of others’
perspectives and strategies, and to clarify and
expand students’ own thinking and

12. LESSONS TO DEVELOP
CLOSE READING SKILLS

14. BUILDING VOCABULARY

15. VOCABULARY
“Words are not just words. They are the nexus—
the interface—between communication and
thought. When we read, it is through words that we
build, refine, and modify our knowledge. What
makes vocabulary valuable and important is not
the words themselves so much as the
understandings they afford”.
~Marilyn Jager Adams, Common Core State Standards
Appendix A

16. DIFFERENTIATED LESSONS FOR
BUILDING VOCABULARY
1. Word Color
2. Vocabulary Paint Chips
3. Vocabulary Inferences

17. WORD COLOR
Read the chapter “Coming Over” from Immigrant
Kids. As you read, pay attention to the words:
Put a around words for which you don’t know
the meaning (or your students may not know the
meaning)
Put a under sentences that provide context

18. VOCABULARY PAINT CHIPS
Write the word
from the text
Write the
sentence from
the text
Other words
that might
mean the same
thingWords that
might be in
the same word
family

19. DISCOURSE WITH VOCABULARY
INFERENCES

22. USING QUESTIONS TO
READ CLOSELY

23. ASKING QUESTIONS
“Curiosity spawns questions. Questions are the master
key to understanding. Questions clarify confusion.
Questions stimulate research efforts. Questions propel
us forward and take us deeper into reading.”
~Harvey & Goudvis, 2007

24. DIFFERENTIATED LESSONS FOR
ASKING QUESTIONS
1. Questioning as a Facilitator
2. Using Student Discourse to Support
Questioning
3. Using Metacognitive Strategies to Solve

25. QUESTIONING AS A FACILITATOR

26. USING STUDENT DISCOURSE TO
SUPPORT QUESTIONING
Adapted from: Consensus Placemat from The Dynamic
Trainer: Perfect Training Every Time, Kagan Publishing

27. USING STUDENT DISCOURSE
TO SUPPORT QUESTIONING
Rather than an objective to
achieve, mathematics
discourse is a process for
students to practice.
“Promote Problem –Solving Discourse ,” Teaching Children Mathematics,
2010, Vol. 17, No. 1, 32-37.

28. USING METACOGNITIVE
STRATEGIES TO SOLVE
PROBLEMS

29. “POSTER ACTIVITY”Bob Probst and Kylene
Beers

31. DETERMINE IMPORTANCE

32. DETERMINE IMPORTANCE
“Nonfiction reading is reading to learn. Simply put,
readers of nonfiction have to decide and remember
what is important in the texts they read if they are
going to learn anything from them.”
~Harvey & Goudvis, 2007

33. DIFFERENTIATED LESSONS TO
DETERMINE IMPORTANCE
1. Interesting vs. Important
2. Quote the Concept
3. Quote the Concept, Too

34. INTERESTING VS. IMPORTANT

35. INTERESTING VS. IMPORTANT

38. QUOTE THE CONCEPT

39. QUOTE THE CONCEPT, TOO

41. WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/LINKSTOLI
TERACY
Kim Kirk
Kimberly_I_Kirk@mcpsmd.
org
Twitter:
@Kimberly_Kirk02
Dawn Little
Dawn_M_Little@mcpsmd.org
Twitter: @Dawn_M_Little
Website: www.dawnlittle.com