5 Tips For Reaping the Benefits of Upper Elementary Close Reading Activities
Close reading is a powerful instructional strategy that allows students to grow as readers, not only as individuals but as part of our classroom reading communities. Students learn to carefully analyze a text, focusing on understanding its meaning, structure, and language.
When they are introduced to close reading, some students may feel overwhelmed. However, with direct instruction from us as well as regular practice, they’ll begin to develop their critical thinking, comprehension, and analytical skills. In other words, close reading helps students gain skills that will help them grow as complete learners.
In this blog post, I’m sharing more about why close reading is so important for our students and practical ways teachers can incorporate close reading into our classrooms.
Why Close Reading is Important for Upper Elementary Students
Upper elementary students are transitioning from the big goal of learning to read to an even bigger goal of reading to learn. This means strengthening not only their comprehension skills but their critical thinking and vocabulary skills in order to become truly strong, effective readers and learners.
During close reading, students are asked to think critically about a text. Students go beyond the surface level of the text where they explore and discover the author’s intent and the significance of key details. When they spend this close reading time analyzing the structure, language, and meaning of a text, students develop analytical thinking skills crucial to overall academic success. Students gain confidence as readers while expressing their own interpretations and insights.
Close reading requires students to focus on the details of the text being read. This leads to a greater understanding of the text’s meaning and teaches students to not only identify themes and meanings, but to make inferences, draw conclusions, and make connections about what was read. The result? A deeper understanding of the material.
Close reading exposes students to new words and new ways to use language, growing and strengthening their own vocabularies. Learning to closely analyze a text allows students to decipher the meanings of unfamiliar words with more confidence and accuracy.
Any time we can get students to actively engage as learners, they benefit. During close reading, they underline or highlight key ideas, make notes in the margins, and ask questions. All of these activities increase their engagement with and understanding of the text.
Social Emotional Learning Benefits of Close Reading in Upper Elementary Classrooms
The benefits of close reading go beyond gaining academic skills. Close reading also provides opportunities to practice social-emotional learning in our classroom communities.
Close reading can be challenging, if not downright difficult for some students. Collaborating with each other helps each student develop their own skills. When they work in groups, students are able to discuss and analyze a text together, sharing their ideas and insights.
Students learn not only how to become stronger readers, but how to communicate in a group and work as part of a team.
Choosing close reading texts that expose students to different cultures and experiences gives them the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of perspectives other than their own. Within these texts, students often discover connections to their own lives they never imagined.
This leads to students growing in empathy and appreciation for diversity inside and outside of our classrooms. Read this blog to discover books I recommend for promoting empathy and kindness.
As they learn to dig deeply into texts, reading closely and engaging actively, many students will experience texts in a way they never have. This can lead to the development of a new appreciation for reading and sometimes, even a love for it.
Developing a love for reading as an upper elementary student can lead to a lifelong love of reading. Imagine how many stories our students still have to discover!
Ways to Effectively Incorporate Close Reading in Upper Elementary Classrooms
Now that we’ve talked about all the ways close reading benefits our students as learners, let’s talk about things we can do to get the most out of close reading time in our classrooms.
1. Have students use graphic organizers
Graphic organizers can be such a powerful tool for students throughout the close reading process. Students can use Venn diagrams, T-charts, and story maps to help them identify key themes, make text connections, analyze the author’s intent, and more.
2. Choose engaging texts
It’s so much easier to engage our students when we use engaging texts. When teachers choose texts that are relevant to a student’s experiences and interests, students are more motivated to read and analyze the text closely. Texts that relate to current events, students’ own experiences, or cultural experiences can be especially engaging.
3. Encourage students to read actively
Get students thinking and moving as they read. Encourage them to become truly active readers by having them underline or highlight key ideas in the text, make notes in the margins, and ask questions as they read. Take active reading a step further and have students use reading journals to reflect on what they read.
4. Develop close reading questions to guide students
Close reading is a learned skill and students will need our guidance throughout the process. One way to help them is by developing a list of close reading questions for them to reflect on and answer while they read. These questions might ask students to identify key details, make inferences, and draw conclusions. Challenge them to think critically and not be afraid to come up with their own interpretations.
5. Provide collaborative learning opportunities
We’ve talked about how active learning benefits close reading and how collaborative learning helps students grow socially and emotionally. When planning close reading lessons for the classroom, look for ways to include collaborative learning.
When we incorporate close reading into our upper elementary classrooms, our students will grow as critical thinkers as they strengthen reading comprehension and analytical skills. Not only will students benefit in academic ways, they will also grow socially and in their love for and appreciation of reading.
Possibly best of all, close reading gives teachers an opportunity to show our students just how fun and engaging reading can be when they get active and truly engage with a story or text.
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