Falling in Love with

Close Reading
Carol Bush
Professional Development Specialist
Center for School Improvement & Professional Development
Orleans/Niagara BOCES

Annotating text
Three-step process (applicable to media,
narratives, and informational text)
Read through different lenses
Identify patterns
Develop a new understanding of the text based
on the patterns

Nuts & Bolts

Text evidence
Word choice
Structure

Reading closely for

pov/argument
Everyday life is an interaction of points of
view.
Subtle influential messages come from all
angles.
Build students confidence to trust that their
own judgments are sound.
Helps students to make sense of the world
and take risks.

Reading closely for POV/argument

in Media and Informational texts
Reading Closely for Point of View and
Argument in Informational Texts
1. Read through lenses.

Lens #1: What is the point of view/argument?

Ideas or claims
Reasons the claim is right
Evidence supporting the reasons
Counterargument
Lens #2: What makes the point of view/argument persuasive?
Text evidence
Word choice
Structure

2. Use lenses to find

patterns.

Which points of view/ideas are repeated?

What techniques does the author use to make his or her point
of view/argument?
What sticks out as different or unusual in the text?

3. Use the patterns to

develop a new
understanding of the text.

Validity and strength of the argument:

Central idea or claim
Most/least persuasive parts
How well-supported
Effective or ineffective parts

Closely reading informational text for

pov/argument
Sis! Boom! Bah! Humbug!
Rick Reilly (2007)
Read the article with two lenses, one for point of
view/argument and the other for determining what
in the text makes it persuasive
Identify patterns in the article, carry those patterns
to the rest of the text to identify larger patterns
Try to develop a new understanding of the article
based on the validity and strength of the argument

Closely reading media for

POV/Argument
Mayor Bloomberg bans large
sugary drinks!

Reading closely for

Point of view in Narratives
Reading Closely for Point of View in
Narratives
1. Read through lenses.

Lens #1: What is the authors and/or characters point of view

here?
What are they thinking
What they believe
What they feel or want
Lens #2: What makes the authors and/or characters point of
view persuasive?
Text evidence
Word choice
Structure

2. Use lenses to find

patterns.

Which points of view/ideas are repeated?

What techniques does the author use to make his or her point
of view/argument?
What sticks out as different or unusual in the text?

3. Use the patterns to

develop a new
understanding of the text.

What is the purpose or effect of these points of view?

What is revealed about a theme?
The authors purpose?
The effect on the reader?

Closely reading narratives

for point of view
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Slexie (2007)

Read the excerpt with two lenses, one for point of

view and the other for determining what in the text
solidifies that point of view
Identify patterns in the excerpt, carry those patterns
to the rest of the text to identify larger patterns
Try to develop a new understanding of the text
based on your list of points of view and identified
patterns

The family tree Reading

across texts
Looking inward often results in looking
outward.
Big life questions can also be asked of texts.
Comparing texts provides a context.
Context allows us to see things more clearly.

Reading closely while

reading across texts
Reading Closely for Reading Across
Texts
1. Read through
lenses.

Choose a comparison:
Characters or subjects
Themes or central ideas
Settings
Authors
Then choose your texts:
What other text fits with this comparison?

2. Use lenses to find

patterns.

Decide how to compare:

Text evidence
Word choice
Structure
Point of view

3. Use the patterns to

develop a new
understanding of the
text.

Have new ideas about:

The lens you looked through
The authors choices
The messages these texts send

Reading across narrative

texts
Students need to have read a variety of texts
Students should be familiar with the texts (first
lesson)
Provide a text to get them started and ask them to
think of other texts they could compare it to (and
why)
Once youve settled on the texts you will be
comparing, you can start the 3-step process
Reference example on pp. 104-111

Reading across narrative

texts
Read through lenses
Burn and The Fault in Our Stars
Characters male leads (Burn and Gus)

Look for patterns

Attractive love interests

Quiet and brooding
Intently looking at the girl they admire
Burn is dangerous and Gus is not

Develop a new understanding

Characters take on a persona

Reading across
Informational texts/media
Digital Books Leave a Reader Cold and The Daily Beast
Demonstrate with subjects that your students will find
worthy of studying (gross facts, heated debates,
relevant issues)
Read through lenses by selecting appropriate texts to
compare and the context in which youre going to
compare them
Identify patterns by looking at text evidence, word
choice, structure, and point of view
Develop a new understanding based on all texts

Reading closely for pov/argument and

the family tree
Three-step process (applicable to media,
narratives, and informational text)
Read through lenses
Use lenses to find patterns
Develop a new understanding of the text based
on the patterns

Nuts & Bolts

Text evidence
Word choice
Structure

Questions?
Carol Bush
Professional Development Specialist
Center for School Improvement & PD
Orleans/Niagara BOCES
(716) 731-6800 x3755
cbush@onboces.org