lesson 21 comparing poems plays and prose

The questions are listed here for clarity as first read, second read, third read to show how the focus of questioning might change over multiple readings. Henry and the poem “Latin Deli” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. You can see the Sample Close Reading Questions that resulted of my multiple readings of the first section of the short story “The Gift of the Magi” by O.

Developing text-dependent questions and accompanying learning activities:.

This process is not unlike preparing for a think-aloud, only here, you work is not to plan what you will say about your understanding of the text as you read, but rather to think of the places where you want to prompt students’ thinking with questions that cause them to consider the text carefully.

These purposes are certainly not exclusive of each other, and do not necessarily happen in the order listed here, but having these multiple purposes helps students see the value in re-reading text they might otherwise work quickly through just once to “get the gist.” See the Close Reading Planning Sheet for a printable guide to this process.

Here, ask yourself, “What does this text cause me to think or wonder about some larger aspect the text and of the human condition?” Third, to consider thematic meaning and connections between this text and others like it.Your focusing question here might be “How do the author’s choices help me understand or appreciate something that I didn’t notice the first time I read?” Second, to examine the ways the author uses language and the discipline-specific structures of literature to create meaning.Keep asking yourself, “What’s going on, and how do I know?” First, to determine the general meaning of the text (leaving knowledge and application of literary elements more or less tacit for now).Your purpose at this point is to read as you will ask your students to read: multiple times, with pen in hand, with different (increasingly complex) purposes as you read and re-read. Engaging carefully with the text yourself:.When selecting a text or passage for close reading, consider two questions: First, is there enough going on with the language and craft of the text to warrant the attention of multiple readings? Second, does the understanding that comes from close reading sufficiently benefit students in light of the larger goals of the course or unit? The answer to both needs to be yes in order to keep close reading from falling into its reputation as merely an exercise.

Lesson 21 comparing poems plays and prose