Serafini, Frank. (2013/2014). Close
Readings and Children’s Literature. The
Reading Teacher. 67
(4), 299-301.
Close
Reading and Children’s Literature
Close Reading
As stated in the CCSS, today’s students are asked to read closely to determine
what the text says explicitly, to make logical inferences from their
interactions with a text, and cite specific textual evidence when writing or
speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text (CCSS, 2010). The materials produced in service of the CCSS seem to
suggest teachers have been lax in their development of readers’ analytical
abilities, focusing too much on personal response and not enough on careful,
close reading of the texts students encounter, and allowing students to read
texts that are not complex enough. Readers are encouraged to stay within the four corners of the text when trying to comprehend
more complex texts. It is suggested that through a more deliberate type of
active reading that is purposeful and objective driven, readers will become
more proficient in their reading abilities.
Close reading of text is designed to produce a coherent representation of what the text says. Through the interpretation of words and phrases,
the analysis of the structures of text, and understanding the author’s
reasoning and use of evidence, readers are to deepen their comprehension of
texts. It is asserted close reading of text moves readers away from their
dependence on background knowledge in order to apply critical thinking skills
and develop a logical argument in response to their reading. Through the close reading of short, complex texts, extensive teacher
modeling, and asking text-based questions students will develop their
comprehension abilities for understanding the textual arguments presented by
the author and be better able to write responses to their reading experiences.
Implications for Reading Teachers
In order to support readers’
comprehension abilities and their development of arguments and supporting
evidence, teachers need to help students set purposes for reading, promote
connections to previously read texts, activate background knowledge, review key
ideas and details, create text-dependent questions, talk about what has been
read, and spend time analyzing the various visual and textual elements of a
text in more depth.
Using shorter texts, teachers need to demonstrate what it
means to do a close reading of a
text. Demonstrating how one approaches a text, the strategies one uses to
analyze the language and textual features, and the citing of evidence to
support an argument are all valuable lessons for one’s reading instructional
framework. If teachers are unable to demonstrate how to do this type of
reading, students will have a difficult time doing it themselves.
A Few Concerns
Readers make sense of the texts they
encounter, not by staying within the four corners of a text, but by using their
background knowledge of the world, their previous experiences with text, their
understandings of language, the context of the text’s production, dissemination
and reception, and the text itself to
construct meaning. How will a focus on the text itself change the way readers
are asked to make sense of literary and informational texts? With all the changes suggested by
the CCSS, and the high stakes associated with the new assessments being
developed and implemented, where is the funding and support for quality professional
development going to come from to help teachers develop the skills they will
need to help readers? It is one thing to change the requirements for students
and teachers; it is another to successfully implement these changes. We
need to develop our own understandings of the requirements for close reading in
various contexts, be ready to demonstrate to our students what this type of
reading entails, and provide resources and instructional support to ensure our
students’ success.
1 comment:
I was wondering about professional development, as well. I'm not so concerned about the history of the development of CCSS, but more "how are teachers supposed to do this?"
As you probably know, Indiana has now moved CCSS to the back burner as is attempting to (again) create an original, Indiana, set of standards. So my questioning expands: "WHAT do you want us to do?" AND "How are teachers supposed to do this?"
Unnerving!
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