CLOSE READING!

Well, we heard all about it we were directed that this is one of our focus instructional tools this year but, what is it Close Reading. So, I have been doing some research and observing intently for great examples of Close Reading. I began by following a great blog a thon by Christopher Lehmann. It has been going on for several weeks now and it is a powerful tool for understanding and furthering understanding of Close Reading.

Here is the link: http://christopherlehman.wordpress.com

Three statements Christopher Lehmann thought should drive our planning and revising;

"Always returning to student work"

"Looking for Approximation"

"Lots of Professional, reflective conversation"

 I stumbled literally stumbled, I was walking by a classroom on my way to lunch and overheard music coming out the door. So, I walked in of course. As soon as I walked in I found Student work.

Here are some samples of students working on understanding the text/lyrics of "Man in the Mirror" the Micheal Jackson song. 

Here is the link to a printable of the songs lyrics:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html

These questions were formulated after their second read. Once they read it independently then the watched the video of the lyrics.
Here is a link to the video: 
http://youtu.be/P5vz6iwV38U


Upon having a conversation about their questions, the teacher was able to "Look for approximations" some of the questions were amazing and thoughtful and some were still being developed.  The students had guided the conversation and answered some of each others questions. In the end the class was close but not quite there yet, the teacher quickly collected the passages and placed them in the student folders. She knew that this was going to require another reading. 

While the video was still playing the teacher began to analyze and collect student questions.  Next she began to ask me questions about the student questions not for judgement but for another set of eyes and ears to determine where to go next with these questions. I was hooked into this lesson as an observer I started to walk the room gathering and analyzing questions as well. We were able to have a quick reflective dialogue "Lots of Professional, refelective conversation" I was able to see these three statements in action radically changing student's learning. Wow! Impressive, it was not perfect but it was a perfect example of how we are moving forward and changing the way we teach.  

How does Close Reading relate to math. I think it is essential to help students understand how to solve word problems. They need to apply this same close reading strategy to their word problems to fully comprehend the problem and the computations needed to complete the problem. 

Happy Learning!