Close Reading

When students are able to confidently approach and complete a close reading it is a rewarding, and even exciting, experience.  Their reading, as part of the chain of communication, expresses their engagement with a text and their understanding of humanity and the world which we occupy. As teachers, we want to have this wonderful experience of seeing young minds thinking.

These resources aim to encourage students by letting them explore the process and engage with the underpinning concepts. Step-by-step strategies are employed which allow the complex undertaking of reading, contemplating, understanding both what we read and how we read it, and clearly articulating an interpretation of a text to become familiar and achievable.

The resources are organised in sequence from An Introduction to Close Readings through to practice and possible assessment tasks but each individual resource can be selected and used to address particular aspects of the process. Transferable strategies, which can be used again and again in different lessons, are also incorporated and train students to employ reliable ways of acquiring knowledge and refining skills.

Introducing close readings

What is it that we do when we interpret a text? To understand the process of analysis, students need a clear answer. This resource introduces students to four key concepts that underpin engagement with texts. With knowledge of the role of context in the production and reception of a text, students are able to observe and understand how they make meaning.

Stating ideas

It is vital that students’ analytical responses to texts contain clearly articulated ideas. Those ideas need to reflect the text as a whole and be embedded in the thesis. This resource takes the students step by step from theme to idea to thesis and illustrates this process by applying it to texts. Once students know the steps they can apply them to every text they encounter.

What is a reading?

Students can be confused between reading and a reading. They need an answer to their sensible question: What is a reading? This resource supplies definitions and three approached which enable students to know what a reading is and how to generate one. Then by examining the sample paragraphs, students will be able to hone their own responses.

Close reading of a poem

This resources supplies preparatory and revision materials for the production of a close reading of the poem ‘The Dressmaker’ by Diane Fahey. These materials could be used as a common assessment or as formative work. They ensure student engagement with assessment criteria and feedback.

Skills for close readings

Students can hear key words a great many times and yet have only a vague notion of what they mean. When writing an analytical essay, students need a sound knowledge of key words and skills, if they are to improve their results. This resource works to remedy those problems and to set up a study aid that can be used throughout the year or for a unit of work.