Key Points/Summaries From the First Meeting on 2/20/14

Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading
Key Points & Summaries from the First Meeting on 2/20/14

Question 1 - Is Reading Still Reading?
 Print Text vs. Digital Text

• Entertaining
• Ease of use - highlighting, note-taking, googling unfamiliar words, making connections, discussion through social networks, etc.
• Either form of text still includes decoding and interacting with the text, and bringing your own experiences to the text.

Question 2 - What is the Role of Fiction?

• Fiction appeals to ALL audiences.
• Fiction is more humanized.
• With nonfiction you learn more, with fiction you can be more.

Question 3 - Where Does Rigor Fit?

•  A harder text does not equal rigorous results.
• Rigor needs to be differentiated.
• An essential element in rigor is engagement.

Question 4 - What Do We Mean by Intellectual Communities?

•  Satisfaction in creating places where we all want to work.
• Rigor is high because students want to learn more.

Question 5 - What is the Role of  Talk?

•  Talk is a valuable tool for improving understanding.
• Monologic vs. Dialogic Talk 
• Monologic 
• Dialogic
• "Asking questions for which you already know the answer is inauthentic..."
• Tips for improving rigor and talk (student to student discourse).

Question 6 - What is Close Reading?

• It should bring the text and the reader close together.
• "What we want is to notice those elements of the text that are, for example, surprising or confusing or contradictory, so that then we pause and take note, think carefully, reread, analyze--read closely."
• A students background and connections are still important.

 Question 7 -  Do Text-Dependent Questions Foster Engagement?

• Students need to create their own text-dependent questions.  We need to move away from teacher created questions and reliance on the teacher.
• Meaning is gained when the reader thinks/applies the text to themselves.
• Kids should be able to learn about themselves, others, and the world from the text.
• Different readers bring a different interpretation to a text.
• Student-made questions are engaging and "genuine" and might encourage them to explore further.

Question 8 - Must Everyone Read the Same Book?

• Students benefit from reading the same book - it builds community and teaches them about their neighbors and themselves (think about book clubs).
• Differentiate instruction using the same book.
• It encourages kids to be in a community of learners.
• It's ok if a text is not on the instructional or independent level.  Students need to be supported when handling a harder text based on their needs.
• Self-selected reading is still important.

Question 9 - How Do I Judge the Complexity of a Text?

• Quantitative vs. Qualitative Measures:
• Quantitative - Features in the text that you can count (i.e. miscues, self corrections, wpm)
• Qualitative - Levels of meaning, structure, language, conventionality, knowledge demands (can't be counted or numerically measured).
•  Reader and Task Considerations - Determining Text Complexity - "Who reads the text matters."
• background & ability
• vocabulary
• attitudes & maturity
• interest & motivation
• "We finally had to face the fact that the most complex factor in text complexity is the transaction between the reader and the text."
• Moving beyond just the measurable elements in determining text complexity and including placing attention on qualitative issues and the connection between the reader and the text.

Question 10 - Are We Creating Life Long Learners?

• Our goal should be to make a student a better person.
• Schools and teachers should help students develop a passion for learning that continues throughout life.
• Create life-long learners!