{"id":125,"date":"2018-07-12T23:52:02","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T04:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.wordpress.com\/?p=125"},"modified":"2023-09-30T11:59:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T15:59:43","slug":"how-to-close-read-a-whole-novel-with-student-of-any-skill-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/how-to-close-read-a-whole-novel-with-student-of-any-skill-level\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Close Read a Whole Novel with Student of Any Skill Level"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Close read a novel. Text code the reading. Annotate the book. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever you call it, you know what is–the highlighting and color-coding in a novel or an article that basically killed <\/em>any enjoyment that may have come from the reading, right?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, even though we know no one likes to stop in the middle of the action to take a note on characterization, text coding can be a valuable tool.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It forces meta-cognition<\/strong><\/span>. Students have to think about their thinking, which is just about the most difficult skill I can think of.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I went to high school, it was easy to spot the honors and AP students. They walked around with classic novels, probably written by old white guys, practically exploding with post-it notes and rainbows from all the highlighting they’ve done within the pages. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember highlighting examples of tone, mood, foreshadowing, characterization, plot development–all color-coded accordingly. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Close
A student making a connection to the text<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This task became routine over my four years<\/span>. Students in honors and AP English courses expected to highlight until they dreamt in technicolor.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regular course students would smile and nod at your novel, before saying, “Yeah, we watched the film in class.” They knew their choice had saved them from the pain and torment of endless annotation.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder, though, why t<\/span>eachers force the highest achieving students to prove their knowledge of basic literary terms over and over. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone Can Close Read a Novel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Through this exercise, I certainly came to appreciate an author’s ability and style better. (Wow, Mary Shelley is really great at mood!) I definitely began to pinpoint these writing tools faster as I read. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But w<\/strong><\/span>hat did teachers ever do w<\/strong>ith these highlights? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, your teacher checked off that you did it<\/span>. It went in like a test score<\/span>. And, maybe, if you chose to write a paper on a character, those characterization highlights would prove useful later. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in the regular class, they watched the Odyssey for the third time.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I don’t mean to diss my alma mater. I love(d) that school and grew greatly from it. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why deny lower ability students the same tools and strategies that more advanced students get? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And why have higher-performing students, who will do any dog and pony trick for an A, perform the same task over and over without a greater purpose?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Close Read a Novel for Lower-Level Students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I work in a school where the reading levels can vary greatly. I’ve had a handful at a college reading level<\/span>. But most fall very short of grade level, even all the way down to second-grade reading level. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have special ed and ELL students. For the most part, we would never dream of handing them a novel and saying close read it. Except, that’s just what I did.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past school year, I chose to start teaching Angie Thomas’s <\/span>The Hate U Give<\/span><\/i><\/a> (I swear I will make it required reading in this district!). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s the biggest book I’ve ever attempted to read with my students of varying abilities. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s also the densest in relation to big ideas to talk about. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Teachers<\/a>
Click here to grab all of my The Hate U Give resources!<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Because Thomas’s writing style is so true to real-life, my students wouldn’t have too many comprehension issues. That meant less time summarizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted my students instead to focus on those big ideas<\/strong><\/span>. What is Angie Thomas trying to say with her writing, and do you agree with her?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that timeline was a problem<\/span>. It’s a lot of book to cover, meaning too much class time will be taken up with reading. There won’t be time to transfer all the beautiful quotes in this novel to various graphic organizers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s where close reading came in.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Close Read a Novel Tip #1: Know Your Goal<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"A
This text annotation is vague and the student failed to narrow in the quote, but he\/she is still clearly showing his\/her understanding of the story and this scene’s relationship to the overall theme.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Students, especially the ones prone to only doing the bare minimum, need to see the point. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reluctant readers or those below grade level are not going to want to do whatever you ask for no reason. They need to have a goal that makes sense to them. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C<\/span>ombining a learning target or skill AND the final assessment into one makes for the best goal. (I personally love authentic assessments<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, for The Hate U Give<\/a><\/em> in my class the final summative assessment was a round table discussion<\/a> in small groups with other staff members from the building (the librarian, instructional coach, etc.). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Teachers<\/a>
You can get the same round table discussion I used with my students here!<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Before we even started reading the novel, I<\/span> gave students copies of the questions they would be asked to discuss on discussion day.<\/span> Each question correlated to a major theme in Thomas’s novel. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I<\/strong><\/span> expected <\/strong>their responses to have textual evidence<\/strong><\/span>. S<\/strong>o as they read, I<\/strong><\/span> asked <\/strong>students to highlight quotes related to each question\/theme.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of having something broad to look for (can you really expect anyone to highlight every instance of characterization or tone throughout a book?) I was having student narrowly focus in on just the quotes and passages they would need for their final discussion<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students understood why they were highlighting (even if they weren’t thrilled about it). <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n