Following up on my previous post, CLOSE READING STRATEGIES: Nonfiction Edition, this post focuses on strategies to use with literature.
A few skills cross over from nonfiction:
- Ensure students can ask and answer the 5Ws and H questions. Again, this is a second-grade reading standard—possibly the most important standard of all. If you can’t ask and answer HOW and WHY questions, you won’t be able to INFER and EXPLAIN. For a full explanation of The Comprehension Process Staircase, which shows how strong readers ask questions RELENTLESSLY, see the TLC “Comprehension 101” page. And check out the “5Ws and H Organizer Model” below.
- Before reading a text, invite students to analyze a related image in order to build their background knowledge and help them generate questions that they genuinely care about—which, guess what? The text will answer! For a detailed explanation of this approach, see this TLC Blog post: “APPROACHES TO THE COMMON CORE: Quadrant Analysis as a Way to Boost Comprehension.”
- For test prep purposes, make sure students can turn the writing prompt into a question so they take notes on that question. See this TLC Blog post: “PARCC Prep: Literary Analysis Writing Lesson Cycle, updated 1-28-20.” Lesson 1 is all about turning the prompt into a question.
- Remind students again that GOOD READERS QUESTION THE TEXT RELENTLESSLY and launch analysis of a new text or a particularly thorny section with the “QIEE” (Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation) organizer, explained in this TLC Blog post: “The #1 CLOSE READING SKILL.”
In addition, here are a few strategies specific to NARRATIVE texts:
- Teach the “DDAT” characterization method. In order to analyze characters, it’s important to know that writers use Direct description, Dialogue, Action, and Thought to reveal character. For a fuller explanation, see this TLC Blog post: “The Overlooked Skill of Skimming.” And see the “Characterization Methods-DDAT” download below.
- Teach students how to use the “What’s Important” organizer. When we ask students to summarize stories or chapters, they tend to provide too many details and not enough key points. Strong readers use a handful of key questions to guide their quest for what is important. For a complete explanation, see this TLC Blog post: “Approaches to the Common Core: TEACHING WHAT’S IMPORTANT.”
- Teach students how to infer themes. Figuring out messages and lessons from texts doesn’t have to be complicated. See my simple three-step process in this TLC Blog post: “Literary Analysis Task: How to Infer Themes from a Text (CCS#2).”
PS: The Literacy Cookbook Website offers 2,000-plus teacher-friendly tools. As a bonus for TLC Blog followers, here is the 50%-off discount code for yearlong access to The Literacy Cookbook Website: TLCBOOK50 (Note: ALL CAPS).
The Literacy Cookbook blog 