Did you ever stop to think what happens as you read? The marvel of the connections our brains make to interpret symbols as sounds that make words that carry meaning is truly astounding.

As adults, we do not need to be convinced of the importance of reading.  Many of us enjoy reading for pleasure, but all of us have faced the arduous task of making meaning out of very dense text.

Something as simple as following a recipe from Blue Apron can require a careful rereading and questioning approach.  Filling out tax forms or Medicare applications can make our heads hurt as we struggle to comprehend what is being asked.

We are good readers.  We are experienced readers.  We are thoughtful readers.

Our students, however, are still developing a set of skills that will carry them through college when they have to read Plato and chemistry books and onto adult life where they will be reading complicated insurance descriptions.

Most of us can remember completing explication of texts or poems in college, but I wonder if we realize that the skill we strengthened as we did that was close reading.

Close reading is simply careful reading. It is not something new. Close reading requires an understanding of the purpose of the text. It requires a reader to adjust focus, to ask questions, to monitor comprehension. Close reading requires the implementation of strategies that are second nature to us.

To be honest, I am not sure why kids are not reading–in quantity and quality–like I remember others reading at their age.  Perhaps more significant is that I am not sure that figuring out why will even help.  But thinking carefully about how we, accomplished readers, process text that is difficult to comprehend and identifying the ways we approach that text is what matters.  It is our duty to make “visible the invisible” strategies we employ.

Close reading is one of the key skills my students work on in AP English. They reviewed this week’s resources for close reading. Here is what they had to say.

“Close reading is extremely important in multiple aspects of my life as a student, not just in English class. I use close reading in almost every one of my classes to assure I understand the material I am studying thoroughly. Close reading is extremely vital to my life at the moment and the document confirmed that I will be using this skill far into the future. I hope to better my ability to read closely as I will need it not only in college, but far into my adult life. One new thing I learned was the SQ3R method of close reading. This method includes surveying, questioning, reading, reciting, and reviewing a piece over a long course of time to assure one understands a piece. I was also reminded to read things multiple times over the course of a few days to assure complete understanding of a piece.” ~ Anthony

“Close reading is paying close attention to what you are reading and making sure you absorb all of the information. It is very important, not only in school but also in other places where you might be reading something difficult. I never realized I should be pay attention to whether or not I am actually understanding what I’m reading. This sounds like something obvious to do, but I never realized how I can just kind of read over things without absorbing anything. I liked the article on how the brain processes words, because I never knew how much went on in my head while reading.” ~ Lindsay

“I thought these resources were very useful. I thought it was interesting to learn about the importance of asking questions and relating what you read to personal experience. Asking questions proves that you understood what you read, and relating what you read to personal experiences helps you to understand the material fully. Close reading is very important, since some of us read and don’t pay attention to what we are reading. This causes us to not understand the material. Annotating a piece helps to solve this problem, since you are actively reading. I have found it useful to underline important phrases and words that contribute to the main idea of the piece. This not only helps me to comprehend what I am reading when I am reading it, but it also helps me to remember main points for when I go back to the piece.” ~ Katie

Helping our students to develop close reading skills is extremely important.  Feel free to share the resources with your students, and likewise, please share your thoughts and ideas as well.

Part five of a ten part series on skills for college and career.