Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons for Analyzing Texts--and Life

by Christopher Lehman, Kate Roberts

Overview

"Love brings us in close, leads us to study the details of a thing, and asks us to return again and again. These are the motivations and ideas that built this book."
—Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts

You and your students will fall for close reading. In Falling in Love with Close Reading, Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts show us that it can be rigorous, meaningful, and joyous. You’ll empower students to not only analyze texts but to admire the craft of a beloved book, study favorite songs and videogames, and challenge peers in evidence-based discussions.

Chris and Kate start with a powerful three-step close-reading ritual that students can apply to any text. Then they lay out practical, engaging lessons that not only guide students to independence in reading texts closely but also help them transfer this critical, analytical skill to media and even the lives they lead.

Responsive to students’ needs and field-tested in classrooms, these lessons include:

• strategies for close reading narratives, informational texts, and arguments
• suggestions for differentiation
• sample charts and student work from real classrooms
• connections to the Common Core State Standards
• a focus on viewing media and life in this same careful way.

“We see the ritual of close reading not just as a method of doing the academic work of looking closely at text-evidence, word choice, and structure,” write Chris and Kate, “but as an opportunity to bring those practices together to empower our students to see the subtle messages in texts and in their lives.” Read Falling in Love with Close Reading and discover that the benefits and joy of close reading don’t have to stop at the edge of the page.

Read a sample from the book to learn more about Chris and Kate's close-reading ritual for students and for an annotated text that shows how it works. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780325050843
Publisher:	Heinemann
Publication date:	10/16/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 7.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	10 - 17 Years

About the Author

Donalyn Miller’s work champions self-selected independent reading, providing guidance and resources that foster children’s love of reading and the development of positive reading identities. A national and international consultant and bestselling author, Donalyn’s published works include The Book Whisperer (Jossey-Bass, 2009), Reading in the Wild (Jossey-Bass, 2013), and Game Changer: Book Access for All Kids (co-written with Colby Sharp, Scholastic, 2018) as well as articles in Gifted Child International, Education Week Teacher, The Reading Teacher, Voices From the Middle, Educational Leadership, Horn Book, School Library Journal, and The Washington Post. Recipient of TCTELA’s Elementary Language Arts Teacher of the Year (2011) and TCTELA’s Edmund J. Farrell Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award (2018) (for her contributions to the language arts teaching profession).

Donalyn is also a co-founder of The Nerdy Book Club, an online community which provides inspiration, book recommendations, resources, and advice about raising and teaching young readers. Donalyn and her husband, Don, live in Texas atop a dragon’s hoard of books. You can connect with her on her website BookWhisperer.com, or on Twitter at @DonalynBooks.

Christopher
Lehman is the Founding Director of The Educator Collaborative, a K-12 Literacy think tank and professional development organization, working to innovate the ways educators learn together.

He is an international speaker, literacy consultant, and New York Times best-selling author. He holds degrees from
UW-Madison, NYU, and Teachers College, Columbia University. Chris has been a middle-school teacher, high-school teacher, literacy coach, and staff developer. He sits on the Board of Directors of the National Center for
Families Learning, is a past Chair of the NCTE Middle Level Section, and past member of the NCTE Executive Committee.

He has served as column editor for NCTE’s peer-reviewed journal, Voices from the Middle, and his articles and interviews have appeared in many journals and publications including the International Literacy
Association’s Reading Today,
in EdWeek, and in Education SmartBrief.
He has supported schools and districts across the United States and around the world in developing robust, research-based, effective literacy curricula and practices.

Now with The Educator Collaborative, he is working to innovate the ways literacy educators learn in-person and online, providing professional learning for teachers, coaches, and administrators so students can hold their brightest futures.

KATE ROBERTS is a national literacy consultant, top-selling author, and popular keynote speaker. She taught reading and writing in Brooklyn, NY and worked as a literacy coach before joining the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in 2005, where she worked as a Lead Staff Developer for 11 years. Kate's latest book, A Novel Approach, asks how we can teach whole class novels while still holding onto student centered practices like readers workshop. She is also the co-author of Falling in Love with Close Reading (with Christopher Lehman), DIY Literacy (with Maggie Beattie Roberts), and she co-wrote two Units of Study books on Literary Essay. Her work with students across the country has led to her belief that all kids can be insightful, academic thinkers when the work is demystified, broken down and made engaging. To this end, Kate has worked nationally and internationally to help teachers, schools, and districts develop and implement strong teaching practices and curriculum.



Follow Kate online.

Twitter: @TeachKate

Pinterest: /IndentBlog

Blog: KateAndMaggie.com

Table of Contents

Foreword Donalyn Miller viii

Acknowledgments xii

Chapter 1 Close Reading, A Love Story 1

What Close Reading Was, Is, and Can Be 2

What You Will Find in This Book 5

Teaching Within a Close Reading Ritual to Build Independence 7

Falling in Love with Close Reading 8

Chapter 2 The Essence of Understanding: A Study of Text Evidence 9

The Tools of the Trade: Getting Ready to Close Read for Text Evidence 11

Standards and Close Reading for Text Evidence 13

Closely Reading Media: Engage Students Through Popular Songs and Text Evidence 13

More Than Just "Because": Closely Reading Narrative Texts to Analyze Evidence and Meaning 15

The Facts We Choose to Tell: Modifying the Lesson to Analyze Text Evidence in Informational Texts 25

Next Steps: Extensions and Support for Close Reading of Text Evidence 27

Additional Lessons for Providing Extra Support 28

Additional Lessons for Providing Advanced Work 29

Closely Reading Life: Looking at Specific Details in Our Lives 30

Chapter 3 A Way with Words: A Study of Word Choice 32

The Tools of the Trade: Getting Ready to Close Read for Word Choice 34

Standards and Close Reading for Word Choice 34

Closely Reading Media: Engage Students Through Television Ads and Word Choice 35

"Macroscopic" vs. "Really Big": Closely Reading Informational Texts to Analyze Word Choice and Tone 38

"You Look Fine, Honey": Modifying This Lesson to Analyze Word Choice in Narrative Texts 45

Next Steps: Extensions and Support for Close Reading of Word Choice 46

Additional Lessons for Providing Extra Support 47

Additional Lessons for Providing Advanced Work 48

Closely Reading Life: Looking at Word Choice in Our Lives 48

Chapter 4 If You Build It: A Study of Structure 50

The Tools of the Trade: Getting Ready to Close Read for Structure 51

Describing Organizational Choices 52

Describing the Purpose of Structural Choices 53

Standards and Close Reading for Structure 53

Closely Reading Media: Engage Students Through Video Games and Structure 54

How the Pieces Fit Together: Closely Reading Narrative Texts to Analyze Structure and Theme 57

Making the Invisible Visible: Modifying the Lesson to Analyze Structure in Informational Texts 68

Next Steps: Extensions and Support for Close Reading of Structure 71

Additional Lessons for Providing Extra Support 73

Additional Lessons for Providing Advanced Work 73

Closely Reading Life: Looking at Structure in Our Lives 74

Chapter 5 Through Your Eyes: A Study of Point of View and Argument 76

The Tools of the Trade: Getting Ready to Close Read for Point of View and Argument 78

Closely Reading Media: Engage Students Through Evaluating Arguments in Political Commentary 78

Standards and Close Reading for Point of View and Argument 79

But It Seemed So Innocent! Closely Reading Informational Texts to Analyze Point of View and Argument 82

From Every Angle: Modifying This Lesson to Analyze Point of View and Argument in Narrative Texts 89

Next Steps: Extensions and Support for Close Reading of Point of View and Argument 92

Additional Lessons for Providing Extra Support 94

Additional Lessons for Providing Advanced Work 94

Closely Reading Life: Looking at Point of View and Argument in Our Lives 95

Chapter 6 The Family Tree: Closely Reading Across Texts 98

Tools of the Trade: Getting Ready to Close Read Across Texts 100

Standards and Close Reading for Reading Across Texts 101

Closely Reading Media: Engage Students Through Comparing Sitcoms 102

"Stop Me If You Heard This One Before": Closely Reading Across Narrative Texts 103

There Is No I in Team: Modifying This Lesson to Closely Read Across Informational Texts 112

Next Steps: Extensions and Support for Close Reading Across Texts 114

Additional Lessons for Providing Extra Support 116

Additional Lessons for Providing Advanced Work 116

Closely Reading Life: Looking Across Texts in Our Lives 117

Chapter 7 I Believe in You: A Vision of Independence 119

Putting It All Together: Allowing a Text to Guide Our Reading 120

Keeping the Love Alive: Preparing for Your Close Readers 123

Unconditional Love: An Endnote 125

Appendix 126

References 133