Close Reading and Reading Like a Writer

Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles - Harvey Daniels and Nancy Stevens 
Where Does Rigor Fit?
What is Close Reading? 
Defining the Signposts 
Explaining the signposts 
    by Kylene Beers
Wonderous Words Katie Wood Ray

Say:

I think it is important that students have the balance between reader response and doing close readings of the text. Examining the author's craft is important to pushing our students into high levels of thinking and understanding that they can have find pleasure in looking for how the author crafts the novel. I also feel like close reading of passages that involve examining the author's craft go directly with teaching the students writing skills. Using book clubs as a vehicle to discuss author's craft and actually segway into writing assignments as well as doing a close reading. I also loved the whole looking at genre's and having the kids analyze how we determine genres or the canon that the mini lessons book provides. I also loved when Beers 
says rigor is not attribute of a text, but a characteristic of our behavior with that text. It's all about how we teach kids to really interact and work with that text. I know that I have definitely read some classics, but I never interacted with them or worked through them the way I have done others. To have rigor, they must be motivated to interact and work through the text. I think that is the hardest part of working with the classics because you have to motivate them, peek their interest in some way in order for them to want to solve those literary problems. One of the things I liked about the close reading article is the blending of the two theories: close reading and reader response. I know I am personally guilty of being critically of how reader response is used in the classroom because I think it is important to use close readings and formal analysis in English class; however, this article shows that the point of getting students to think about past experiences/feelings is to become better readers, to be more motivated to understand what characters/the author felt or trying to convey. I think it is important to always consider the text and to have students look closely at what the author/character is saying. Its also true that passages are a great way to do close readings, but they should extent to the novel as a whole.  

I really enjoyed all of the signpost articles.  It was concise and definitely applicable/useful in the classroom! I could picture little mini-lessons, maybe even in their book clubs, that could come out of breaking down close readings in that chunking kind of way. Eventually I think it is important for students to understand that all of those signposts exists together; however, breaking it up into those sections could be super helpful in guiding to become more conscious as a reader. Using questioning has always been a personal technique that I have loved because I thought that it helped my students; however, we have had several conversations about questioning in terms of handing it over to the students in order for independent study. When we discussed socratic seminar and whether or not discussions are truly with the students/teachers, I definitely became more aware of my role as questioner because I definitely use questions, but am I making my students less independent? I liked the anchor questions because they lead to more thoughtful discussion without necessarily taking control over the conversation. t  I also thought the comment of generalizing was really good. I never think that when I'm modeling a new concept, I should generalize my statements so students can see that this is a strategy for all reading material, instead of compartmentalizing it to just one story/genre. 

This kind of close reading definitely intermingles with teaching writing and teaching students to read like a writer. I definitely agree with Katie Ray in that I can see how students have great ideas, but sometimes the product or the reproducing of those ideas falls short and I've even heard students staying "okay, I know I have an idea, but I don't know how to write about it." I think focusing on teaching students how to write by using mentor texts/passages and do mini lessons that focus on author's craft of writing is important in helping writers truly blossom. I love when she says reading is the writers way of visiting another craftpersons "gallery". I think students definitely compartmentalize the genres of writing and have this tendency to think it some type of "other" intangible act that you are born with. I think teaching students the craft of writing is hard because of the stigma behind it, meaning they might understand what their saying, but to get them to want to figure out how the writer achieves it is a hard sell. I think this is due to the fact that teachers don't make their students feel like writers; therefore there is this kind of big "W" and little "w" in the writing world. I liked that she used her own mentor text and divided the different modeling techniques/strategies that she noticed about that work. I also couldn't help but notice that part of looking at author's craft goes directly with grammar/conventions so I definitely see how when you focus on writer's craft, you can blend grammar/convention lessons that feel authentic. She also notes that before reading for writer's craft, students need to experience the text as readers. I also really liked the idea of returning to a text later on and looking at it as writers because then students have knowledge about the text already and can focus on the craft! I thought the breaking down of how to notice, analyze, rename, and then broaden it out to other texts is really smart because students will be able to see that even though its a different thing they are analyzing/focusing on, the process of analyzing a text like a reader is similar to looking at it as a writer. 



Say:

So for the unit on Night by Elie Wiesel, I felt like all of the signposts could be potentially taught and analyzed in the text. There's just so much to do with it! I feel like the story goes through so many moments/memories that I could easily fit these lessons into it and have students analyze it through those different lenses. One of the texts that I plan to use in the classroom as a whole in Art Speigelman's, MAUS. Even if this book was part of a book club, I still think its a great text to show the class as a whole. This book is full of memories and gives the motivation for the book so I think it would be a great way to teach the signpost Memory Moment. Art is talking with his father to write this novel and brings back painful memories for him, but these highlight part of the issue with their relationship. In groups, students would look at the graphic novel and look at how Art's father's memories affect who he is and the relationship with his son. 

Memory Moment Questions. 

1.  Describe the relationship between Art and his father. 


2. List some reasons as to why you think they have this kind of relationship? State your textual evidence to support your reasoning. 


3. What is like for Art's father to re live/ re-tell those painful memories? How do you think he feels? 


4. Based on what you know so far, hows his father's memories impact who is becomes and his actions towards his son? 


5. How does the role of memory work in both MAUS and Night?