What Is Close Reading?

Close Reading is a central focus of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It requires students to get truly involved with the text they are reading. The purpose is to teach them to notice features and language used by the author. Students will be required to think thoroughly and methodically about the details in a text.

Close reading isn’t the old “students read, teacher questions and evaluates” model. While it is initially modeled and then guided by a teacher, over time the teacher releases the responsibility of close reading to the student. Teachers help students determine how a text is organized, and understand the effect of the author’s word choice in a certain passage. Close reading goes “deeper than the text”. It mines what is under the surface of the words. Students eventually evaluate or critique what is written.

Why Is Close Reading Important?

Close reading teaches students to seek out micro-levels of understanding. It’s more than being able to retell a story or provide a main idea or supporting details from a text. When students are taught to read a text closely they become more skilled at locating evidence within a sentence or a paragraph or a page of a text or story. Then orally or in writing, they can justify answers to text-dependent questions based on evidence. These are basic close reading skills as outlined by the Common Core English language arts Standards that every student must know to succeed in college and career.

As educators, we’re concerned about students’ lack of comprehension, especially of informational text. Today many students are barely grazing the surface of the text they read. They typically don’t take the time to understand and make connections to the text. Close reading is being emphasized by the CCSS to ensure today’s students dig deeper into the text, and start making those connections.