Teaching with Complex Texts

1
DO NOW Look at the quote below with your table
partner, discuss what you think the meaning of
this quote is. How can this quote be applied to
your own life?
A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.
2
Every book has a skeleton hidden between its
covers. Your job as an analytic reader is to find
it.
Adler and Van Doren, 1940/1972
3
Skills and Strategies for Active
Reading
Preview Gain a sense of a text before you start to read Predict Try to guess what will happen next
Set a Purpose Decide why you are reading a particular text Visualize Form a mental picture of what is being described
Connect Relate personally to what you are reading Monitor Check your own comprehension as you read
Use Prior Knowledge Call to mind what you already know about a topic Make Inferences Make logical guesses using evidence from the text and what you know from experience
4
Close Reading Read with a pencil Note whats
confusing Pay attention to patterns Struggle a
bit!
5
Model Close Read The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty
6
Establishing Purpose
To practice the skills and strategies for active
reading
7
Model As I read I will complete the following

• Reading with a pencil to be able to mark up the
  text
• What confuses me? Underline
• When do I use one of the 8 reading strategies?
  Star

8
Text-dependent Questions (model)
Are there any words or phrases you dont know the
meaning of? Can you figure out the definition
based on context clues?
Vocabulary and Organization Questions
9
A Close Reading of Salvador, Late or Early
Cisneros, S. (1992). Woman Hollering Creek. New
York Vintage
Cisneros
10
Establishing Purpose
To examine how the author sheds light on the
struggles of this character using poetic language
to impact the reader.
11
First Reading Read and Write Independently

• Read with a pencil to annotate text
• What powerful words or phrases affect you?
  Circle
• What confuses you? Underline

12
Text Evidence Check

• On your post-it, make an inference about
  Salvador. Support your thinking with a piece of
  text evidence.

13
Discuss with your partner in your home group
Describe your impressions of Salvador and the
people in his life. Remember to use accountable
talk (asking questions, providing evidence from
the text) to compare and contrast your
impressions with one another.
14
Jigsaw Text dependent questions

• Step One
• Create the foldable!
• Step Two (Expert Group)
• You will be assigned one of six text-dependent
  questions. Read through your text again and come
  up with an answer using at least one piece of
  text evidence to support your answer
• Step Three (Home Group)
• Meet back with your home group and discuss your
  expertise using accountable talk. Each
  individual is responsible for completing the
  foldable and presenting an answer with evidence
  from your text-dependent question

15
Text-dependent Questions
What are his strengths? What are his needs? What
words and phrases does the author use for each?
Key Details Question
16
Text-dependent Questions
How does Cisneros use color? To what effect? How
does Cisneros use school words? To what effect?
Vocabulary and Organization Questions
17
Text-dependent Questions
One sentence is more than 80 words long, and
another is more than 100 words long. Why?
Vocabulary and Organization Questions
18
Text-dependent Questions
Examine the use of contrasts again. What does the
author want us to know about Salvador?
Authors Purpose Question
19
Text-dependent Questions
Salvador means savior. Is he the savior of his
family?
Inference Question
20
Text-dependent Questions
Would a title change to Heather, Late or
Early change your perspective? Why?
Opinions and Intertextual Connections Question
21
Journal Writing
Salvador is a teenager just like you think about
your own life and write about how your life is
similar or different from Salvador's.