Close Reading with Language Learners

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Welcome educators! My wish is that you are having a fantastic school year. Before we dive into our topic this week I have a reflection question for you. I want to encourage you to pause and take a moment to think about and answer the question: How has your lesson planning been going the first half of the school year? Jot down your thoughts and really reflect on the first semester. 

There are many of you out there that have heard the buzz word close reading. 

I am here to tell you that it is more than just a buzzword. There are also many of you out there that are confused about how to support your Language Learners in the classroom. You might be confused about what to teach or how to create engaging lessons. You might also not know how to include scaffolds and supports for your Language Learners in your classroom. 

Close reading lessons is the answer to a lot of your lesson planning struggles. Let’s dive into what is close reading. Close reading allows your Language Learners to read and reread the text to come to new discoveries and conclusions. Close reading also allows Language Learners to explore the text and analyze its meaning. They are short texts that are read and reread to deepen the students’ understanding. 

Everything about close reading appealed to me and what I wanted to achieve in my classroom.I wanted to streamline my planning for my Language Learners, and engage them in text that interests them. Lessons that were in the curriculum at the time were simply boring. I didn’t know what to do and the students were not into the curriculum. I was also lacking the structure that I needed in the classroom in regards to my lesson plans because I was so overwhelmed with lesson preps. While I was at a conference, I went into a session about close reading. That is when the light bulb went off, and I realized that I can use this strategy with my Language Learners. 

Below is a quick overview of the steps to close reading. 

First Reading: Determine what the text says.

• What is the text about?
• What is the theme of the story?
•  What was _____ (character) like, and what did he/she do in the story?

Second Reading: Figure out how the text works

• What does _____ (a word from the text) mean in this context?

• Who is telling this part of the story?

• What is the author’s purpose for this section?

Third Reading: Analyze and compare the text

• What information do these illustrations add to the text? Or, how does this picture differ from what the author wrote?

• Compare _____ (an aspect of the text, such as character or main idea) with the same aspect in another text by the same author. (Readers can also examine texts on the same topic or from the same genre.)

• What reasons does the author give to support _____ (one of the ideas)?

The next question you might have is how did I apply this to my Language Learners. I created my lessons plans that required all the four domains of Language.  I have reading, writing, listening, and speaking included in my close read lessons. PLUS they meet the requirements of the close read. It was the best of both worlds. 

The solution is simple. You can enjoy the ease of having engaged lessons planned out for you. Join the Close Read Club!  You will get monthly close read lessons that you can use with your Language Learners. You can also make the lessons your own or keep the same. PLUS you are going to save so much time on your planning. 

Join the Close Read of the Month Club today! Every month you will have engaging lessons just like delivered straight to your inbox. 

What’s Included:

• Digital Version of Lesson
• 3 Levels of Differentiated Text 
• Audio and Video of Text
• 3 Sets of Text Dependent Questions
• Close Reading Bookmarks
• Detailed Directions which can be converted to lesson plans
• Vocabulary Cards
• Language Objectives
• Sentence Frames & Word Bank
• Listening Activity (with audio included)
• Quick Write Prompt with Graphic Organizer
• Teaching Others Speaking Assignment

Join the Close Read of the Month Club to get access to these amazing resources every month! Share your comments below on how you plan to use close reading with your students this school year.