Textual Analysis: Close Reading

There are many different methods of teaching students to understand the meaning of a text and what the students read. Close reading is a common method teacher’s use when teaching the text’s meaning. A close read is when the student is required to develop a deep understanding of an informational or literacy text by discovering the hidden clues within a text about the author’s purpose and characters. After the student has gone through the close read method, it is expected students figure out how to gain a deeper understanding and what is confusing about the text. When choosing a text for the students to read the reading level is a factor, the passage must be slightly above grade level. After the first reading, the students look at the vocabulary

Each of the three students received the chance to talk about their experiences with military men and women or with veterans. One student in the group has veterans in her family, she shared that her grandfather and great-grandfather are both veterans and have shared stories with her. I shared with the students that my grandfather is a veteran, he served in the United States Marine Corps. Her experience plus mine, not only engaged her, but the other students in the group became more engaged in the text to learn about the veterans as well. After the students told their stories, we started to read the passage aloud together. When the students come to words they do not know how to read or the meaning they highlight the words. When the entire passage is finished being read, the students will say or point to the words they have problems with and everyone in the small group will help to figure the word out. The students helped each other to figure out all of the words except for a couple of the military branches. The students needed some assistance in figuring out what the Coastguard and National Guard are and how they do their