{"id":413,"date":"2015-02-06T09:33:16","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T14:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/?p=413"},"modified":"2015-05-06T15:15:30","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T19:15:30","slug":"adventures-in-close-reading-a-teacher-prepares-for-parcc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/adventures-in-close-reading-a-teacher-prepares-for-parcc\/","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in ‘Close Reading’: A Teacher Prepares for PARCC"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARCC exams help teachers focus on instruction that builds students\u2019 real-world skills<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Houstain<\/p>\n

By Christina Houstian<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAll this?\u201d asked Dana, a sophomore in my Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. Government class. \u201cWe have to read this<\/em>?\u201d Dana gasps at James Madison\u2019s Federalist #10, a text written in the 18th<\/sup> century that covers nearly three pages, double-spaced.<\/p>\n

I am moving between groups of students, distributing index cards, highlighters, and sticky notes, and trying to be reassuring as Dana\u2019s \u2018deer in the headlights\u2019 look spreads across the room. They anxiously eye the text\u2014key reading for understanding the birth of our nation\u2019s system of government. Moreover, this primary source document is a mandatory assigned reading in the College Board\u2019s curriculum for the course, so my students will need to understand and \u201cown\u201d it; they will refer back to it throughout the year as the basis for government decisions regarding the \u201ctyranny of the majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reading for Meaning: A Fundamental Building Block<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For most of these 10th<\/sup> graders, this is their first AP class, and their first taste of college. It is at once empowering and daunting for them to face a textbook as well as primary and secondary sources widely used for political science courses at the university level.\u00a0 They will need a great deal of support, especially in the first few months of the course, to build their confidence and give them the skills required to \u201cown\u201d this text, and many like it, \u00a0in order to meet with success.<\/p>\n

Throughout the year, my students will be using a skill called \u201cclose reading\u201d\u2014one of several skills addressed by the new Common Core standards and assessed by the PARCC tests. While it has become a buzzword in education, close reading, or the ability to closely read and analyze a text for meaning, is not new. It is simple, authentic literacy that serves as a fundamental building block for learning throughout high school, college, and beyond.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Questioning as They Go<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in my classroom, I\u2019ve distributed the tools for active close reading: index cards, highlighters and sticky notes. Before they begin reading, I introduce vocabulary they will encounter in the text. They highlight the terms, and jot meaning in their own words along the margins.<\/p>\n

Then, I establish the purpose for reading.\u00a0 For example, in this reading, I instruct them to underline the text anywhere they find a reference to \u201cfactions,\u201d and then write an annotation in the margin. Finally, I model higher-order reading and thinking, showing them how to produce questions about the reading as they go, writing them on the index cards, and sharing them with a partner.<\/p>\n

After practicing how to tackle a challenging reading assignment together, they work in pairs, annotating, highlighting and questioning. Anywhere they see an idea that interests them, makes them wonder, or confuses them, they attach a sticky note, jotted with their thoughts, exclamation points, or question marks.<\/p>\n

The Hands Go Up<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, we share our thoughts after reading. Hands go up across my room, as the students exchange ideas and ask questions. The reading becomes a springboard for a wider discussion on civil rights, interest groups, and the meaning of the word \u201ctyranny.\u201d Many students refer to their index cards, using them for support. Close reading is a way to promote active reading, to allow students the skills for ownership of a text.<\/p>\n

Close reading is also a skill that these students are learning across the curriculum in high school, and the PARCC tests have provided teachers with a focused need for instruction that addresses close reading.\u00a0 My hope is that close reading will help my students to face any reading task with a positive, fearless approach.<\/p>\n

For more information about PARCC and what it means for students and parents, visit <\/em>www.marylandpublicschools.org<\/em><\/a> and click on \u201cPrepare for PARCC.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christina Houstian was the Anne Arundel County Teacher of the Year \u00a0for 2014. \u00a0She serves as the Social Studies Department Chair at Broadneck High School.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARCC exams help teachers focus on instruction that builds students\u2019 real-world skills<\/p>\n

By Christina Houstian
\n 
\n\u201cAll this?\u201d asked Dana, a sophomore in my Advanced Placement (AP) U.S.   …Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs","category-toystoriesblog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413\/revisions\/415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}