Close Reading Response Essay

With the implementation of the No Child Left Behind legislation, students across the country are being required to read texts that have greater and greater complexity. Content-area teachers are charged with the task of supporting these students as they struggle to master these more complex texts (Fisher and Frey, 2014). By using reading strategies such as think-alouds, close reading and building background knowledge teachers can help make the reading more accessible for English Language Learners (ELLs).

Stimulating critical thinking begins prior to reading. By tapping into the student’s prior knowledge, they will be able to make connections with the reading passage which is one of the first steps of critical thinking. According to Numrich’s Sequence of Critical Thinking Tasks (Beaumont 2010) pre-reading

Close reading is a relatively new concept that good readers use when a text is important or difficult to comprehend. During close reading, students slow down, consider what they know, ask questions, annotate, synthesize, make inferences, and reread for clarification (Harvey, 2015). Content-area teachers can use this strategy by having students focus on one aspect of the text whether it be main idea or some specific concept such as factors that caused the American Revolution. Either way, students should look closely at the text and find key evidence that will support their thinking. Students should either write on the text, Post-It notes, or any other medium in order to take notes. Note-taking is a vital step of close reading because it helps the student remember their thought processes. Students should be taught to summarize a sentence or paragraph, paraphrase a sentence or paragraph and define key words as a part of the close reading process. Additionally, close reading helps student stay focused which is usually an issue for the struggling