Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons for Analyzing Texts--and Life

by Christopher Lehman, Kathleen Roberts, Donalyn Miller (Foreword)

You and your students will fall for close reading. In Falling in Love with Close Reading, Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts show us that it can be rigorous, meaningful, and joyous. You'll empower students to not only analyze texts but to admire the craft of a beloved book, study favorite songs and videogames, and challenge peers in evidence-based discussions.

Chris and Kate start with a powerful three-step close-reading ritual that students can apply to any text. Then they lay out practical, engaging lessons that not only guide students to independence in reading texts closely but also help them transfer this critical, analytical skill to media and even the lives they lead.

Responsive to students' needs and field-tested in classrooms, these lessons include: strategies for close reading narratives, informational texts, and arguments suggestions for differentiation sample charts and student work from real classrooms connections to the Common Core State Standards a focus on viewing media and life in this same careful way.

"We see the ritual of close reading not just as a method of doing the academic work of looking closely at text-evidence, word choice, and structure," write Chris and Kate, "but as an opportunity to bring those practices together to empower our students to see the subtle messages in texts and in their lives." Read Falling in Love with Close Reading and discover that the benefits and joy of close reading don't have to stop at the edge of the page.

Genres: Education, Professional Development, Teaching, Nonfiction, Adult, Reference, Psychology

152 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2013

About the author

Christopher Lehman is the Founding Director of The Educator Collaborative, a K-12 Literacy think tank and professional development organization, working to innovate the ways educators learn together.

He is an international speaker, literacy consultant, and New York Times best-selling author. He holds degrees from UW-Madison, NYU, and Teachers College, Columbia University. Chris has been a middle-school teacher; a high-school teacher; a literacy coach; and a Senior Staff Developer with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Families Learning. He is a past Chair of the NCTE Middle Level Section, past member of the NCTE Executive Committee. He has served as column editor for NCTE’s peer-reviewed journal, Voices from the Middle, and his articles and interviews have appeared in many journals and publications including ILA’s Reading Today, EdWeek, and Education SmartBrief. He has supported schools and districts across the United States and around the world in developing robust, research-based, effective literacy curricula and practices.

Now with The Educator Collaborative, he is working to innovate the ways literacy educators learn in-person and online, providing professional learning for teachers, coaches, and administrators so students can hold their brightest futures.

His TBR pile is terrifying in an exciting way and exciting in a terrifying way.

Reviews

[Donalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I wrote the foreword for this book, but you have to know I wouldn't have agreed to do so if I didn't love the book. I am weary of the term "close reading" and alarmed by how close reading is being corrupted into a reading program at the expense of meaningful reading experiences and quality instruction. Chris and Kate get it-- they understand teachers' challenges and readers' hearts. This is a beautiful book that values teachers, students, and reading. They provide manageable instructional moves and clarity of purpose for teachers struggling to implement close reading into their English classes. A must-read. A must-use.

[Cindy Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a useful professional tool to get you focused on close reading. There are some great classroom-ready activities included, but the greatest things about it is that it just gets you thinking. It's all about patterns; finding patterns in the text, whether it be characterization, figurative language, thematic--whatever. Some of the activities were quite eye-opening at the information they yielded, especially about books that I've taught for years.

One concept that I found especially intriguing was analyzing the patterns of the structure of the text. This is something we commonly do with non-fiction and argumentative/persuasive text to break down the soundness of the reasoning and the effectiveness of the persuasive rhetoric. However, it is not something we have ever done with fiction, and the results were remarkable. Usually with fiction we are so caught up with character, theme, and symbols that we neglect to take into account the actual structure of the book. We did some analysis of A Tale of Two Cities and The Great Gatsby, and were quite surprised to find the hidden patterns in the way the chapters are laid out.

This is definitely something I will be implementing into my class--and also incorporating into my personal reading!

[Tammy Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quote near the end of the book resonated with me: "Help your studens carry these skills (close reading/ thiking) through the doors and beyond this school year, to the future books they read, the songs they listen to, the converstaions they have, and the world they inhabit."

This is my ultimate goal. I want my students to be independent thinkers. I want them to know when close reading will help them. I want them to employ this strategy and thinking skills when they are stuck or need to further their thinking.

Roberts and Lehman offer up a step by step process of teaching students to close read by: 1. Looking through a lense. 2. Finding patterns in evidence & 3. Using those patterns to developing thinking. Chapters are devoted to helping students gather evidence, evaluate word choice & structure, as well as looking at point of view and argument text. I liked that they presented ways to look at both fiction and non-fiction text. And, I especially loved the chapter about looking across text, as this is something I've been thinking a lot about lately.

In additon, the author's take time to support the idea that while close reading is important, there has to be a healthy diet and balance between close reading and "just" reading and loving books.

The ideas presened in this book are modern, intentional, and a must for any ELA teacher's tool box.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited about this, and I've been looking forward to this for months...

...and I am so deeply disappointed. It was all just so...obvious. Let me sum up the entire book: "give kids a focus, tell them to look for patterns, then have them figure out what the patterns mean." That's it. That's the whole book.

There are no activities or practical things to try--the closest is that every chapter provides a "chart" of different patterns to look for (including higher order skills like "dialogue" vs "setting description"... sense my sarcasm). And no ideas for how to help kids create meaning from those patterns, just repetition of the fact they may need help.


Add to this that almost all the lessons were from middle school (there was one 10th grade class mentioned) and it just felt too obvious and elementary. The skills they want to build here are things my high school students have known for years, so I couldn't take much from this.

What a waste of time.

[Rita Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many great ideas! Also, very impressed that the organization of this professional books models good instruction. We are lucky to have the two brilliant people willing to share their expertise!

Also, this was a great book for this year HS's book study.

[Shayne Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific professional read--perfect for our book study. This book offers practical ideas for the classroom that bring about positive results for both students and teachers. I recently heard Kate Roberts speak, and she is nothing short of amazing. So funny and real! Just what teachers need to keep us uplifted. :)

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons for Analyzing Texts and Life is by Christopher Lehman.

This book offers a fresh approach to reading texts. It deals mainly with nonfiction rather than fiction. However, the strategies can be applied to some works of fiction. It breaks it down into sections dealing with word choice and structure, organization and purpose, point of view and argument and comparisons. It comes with a discussion guide so you can use this book for a cook discussion.

There is really nothing new in the approach, there is just a different application of reading. It is a good book but I have actually read others which are less dry and more helpful than this one.

[Kara Belden · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 star rating. Despite my lower rating, I did enjoy reading this book, and it impacted my teaching throughout the year. When I began reading the book, I didn't even notice the part of the title about LIFE. When it was pointed out to me, I thought it was cheesy, but now that I've finished the book, I can honestly say that I liked the lessons about life much more than the more academic lessons. For example, the sections like "Looking at Word Choice in Our Lives" and "Looking at Structure in Our Lives" will stick with me far beyond the other ideas presented throughout this book. I thought they were ingenious, and I would love to read more about these types of ideas/lessons to use with students. I saw Kate Roberts at NCTE this year, and she is AMAZING. I look forward to learning more from her at the Dublin Lit Conference.

[Nicole Perry Kurilchick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love when books have practical ideas that I can bring to the classroom the next day! This book provides lessons that can be adapted easily. Some of my favorite sections of the book were the last few pages of each chapter that tied the reading skills into life skills.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more...but have to give it a 3 stars for my purpose. The main reason being, it's much more geared to middle/high school than say, my fifth grade classroom. I like the ideas, but they were more generic than what I like to see in a professional resource. I would've liked even more examples and more sample lessons. I did like the ideas about media types to get different points across though. Just bummed it wasn't that useful to my reading class and wish I knew that info through an intro so I wouldn't have wasted my time.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did a great job breaking down different ways to do close readings. There are definitely things I will use in my classroom. I wish it had explained how to use these "lenses" with specific texts (lesson plans) because I learn by doing, but it's still a valuable resource.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know there is a lot of discussion out there about what "close reading" is, but I really think that Chris Lehman has the right idea. The premise - that close reading is like paying close attention to someone that you love - is well presented, well repeated (just enough and at the right times), and well supported. It is an interesting read and probably one of the first I'll turn to when it's time for me to start teaching reading again.

The basic routine is to read closely for a particular aspect, look for patterns, and then analyze what you've found, asking "why....?" all the while. The chapters alternate between fiction and non-fiction texts, but each also refers to how the routine would change if you were using the other type of text in your classroom. The text is presented, with sample dialogue and real student examples, and he even offers suggestions for how to reteach the skill and/or extend it for advanced students. Finally, each chapter wraps up with my favorite part - asking students to practice the same skill in their personal lives with the people around them.

Overall, definitely a keeper on my teacher bookshelf, but something that could cross to my personal bookshelf at any time.

[jmjester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like so many others, I eagerly awaited this book's release. The blogathon immediately preceding it only built my anticipation, and this book does not disappoint. Lehman and Roberts pack this slim volume with very practical ways to approach close reading of both fiction and nonfiction with a variety of grade appropriate texts. This is a perfect companion to Beers and Probst's Notice and Note.

Kudos to you, Chris and Kate.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide for teaching students how to close read with narrative and informational texts! (Who doesn't love Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts?) There are great step by step directions as well as many student samples, scaffolded activities, lesson plan ideas, etc. I wish this book was around four years ago when my school was transitioning into the Reader's Workshop model. It would have been so helpful! I look forward to sharing it with the staff at my new school.

[Jabiz Raisdana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit more practical than Book Love in terms of specific lesson ideas and resources, but missing the heart and inspiration. A worthwhile read for our department in terms of building what the reading "work" could look like in out Indy reading program.

[Emily Rozmus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great teaching strategies.

[Jamie Sears · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to lack practical information for the primary grade classrooms. I plan to read Notice and Note next and hope that it will better meet my needs.

[Mike O'connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Quick and practical. I'd highly recommend it to any of my teacher friends. Might be a good Book Study for our staff.

[Denise Weintraut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous, accessible strategies to easily implement now!

[Coralie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not an English teacher. I do, however, have an English certification and am a lover of reading and writing personally. I read this book for Professional Development as a teacher during the summer. And, I was pleasantly surprised by it. I enjoyed a few things about the book.

First, the writer always finds a way to connect the techniques to the students' lives. They make a point to say that reading and the skills developed through reading are skills the students will use in their personal lives; they even go so far as to give examples for each of the specific lenses that they explore. I'm a huge advocate of connecting what the kids learn in classrooms to their daily lives, and this book shows us how we can connect the analytical, critical thinking, and problem solving skills to reading texts.

Second, the book was well-organized and the chapters well-written. Each chapter dives in deeply and takes a look at one "lens." The chapter explains the lens and how it works, gives examples of student work and lesson plans, etc. They spent time and effort looking at how students can search texts for pov, diction, syntax, etc. and then in the end wrap it up, again, with personal, every day uses.

Third, I loved the emphasis on loving reading. Reading should be something people enjoy, not loathe. And, I know I'm a little biased here, but I truly enjoyed that the love of reading was a priority to these authors. If you don't like reading, you just haven't found the right book yet! But on a more serious note, it was interesting to see how the authors strove to make even the stereotypical boring, school reading fun for the kids. They strove to provide ways to make the text applicable, the ideas student driven, and theoretically, the process student initiated.

The book was clear, concise, and very practical. On a smaller level, I may be able to apply the method presented here in my Spanish classroom. We'll see!

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lehman and Roberts’ Falling In Love With Close Reading is one of those rare technical / professional manuals on education from Heinemann that actually seems to have a lot of really helpful information, strategies, methods of execution, and results, without a lot of the anecdotal fluff. Frankly, as you can probably see form a lot of my other posts, I am absolutely tired of slogging through manuals that have about three pages of information (without much of any suggestions on how to apply it in the methods illustrated) and then seventy to a hundred pages on how this one thing has turned around entire school districts across the country without explaining how it did, why it did, where the funding came from, adding things that were more likely the real cause of change such as free transportation, free access to mental health and social workers for families, etc. Usually, the meat of these books can fit on a napkin and photocopied, and the actual application of the techniques are foggy, vague, and irrelevant to the actual needs of the community.

This book simply sets out to explain how close reading can impact student achievement and engagement with texts, gives strategies, worksheets, samples, and questioning techniques to get the students to do the heavy lifting on reading assignments, and the strategies needed to increase their love for reading and ultimate improvement as a human being through reading. The big thing is that there is no woo in this book – there are the goals, strategies and tools to apply the techniques presented, and a methodology on how to measure success or improve when the students are not meeting the goals. There is no anecdotes about how an entire community changed because of it, no magical people coming in to save the day when others almost quit, none of that nonsense. It is one of those rare teacher books that achieve what it set out to do, and I will be dipping into it for use in my classroom often.

[Tao Hu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. The framework and examples it shares are well organized and clearly demonstrate how to grow kids' close reading skills.

Per Chris and Kate, the fundamental skills for kids to develop are text evidence finding, word choice analysis and structure analysis. Built upon the three skills are the capability to analyze point of view and argument and the capability to closely read across texts. The ultimate result of the teaching will be kids that are capable of conducting independent thinking and forming their own new ideas about the world surrounding them and their lives.

I love the angle from which the authors view the relationship between book reading and real life. With the teaching approaches the authors share, the kids will be able to learn to well connect what they read in books with what they go through in real life. The connection is such a precious gift in today's world where the media has been de-centralized and on the surface is offering uncensored free speeches, but at the meantime, with the help of AI techniques, can be so polarized and biased. The close reading techniques in this book will give the kids the sharp eyes and brains they badly need.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lehman and Roberts assert that look at something intimately, to know it critically, and to spend significant time with it is to love it, which is why they argue that close reading is an act of love. Oftentimes, close reading is seen only in service of literary analysis, but these two educators argue that it helps develop empathy, an understanding of self, a critical eye, and many more skills that serve us in the world. They share a system for how to do this in the classroom through lenses, patterns, and new understandings.

This book took me two years to read, and that’s really on me. I read 2/3 of it in a short period of time two years ago and then just kind of forgot about it when the school year started, but as I finally finished it, I found myself planning units with it in mind (even though I probably won’t be teaching that course anymore). Nevertheless, it has valuable suggestions for how to apply a close reading lens in the classroom but in a way not meant to suck the joy out of reading, but instead, to add to our love of it. I appreciated their philosophy behind close reading. Definitely a resource worth checking out for any secondary teacher of reading, which should be all secondary teachers.

[Yalonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave me the introduction I was hoping for as well as some ideas on how to use this since close reading will be implemented school-wide this year. Definitely written for ELA teachers - complete with scripted classes (which must be the newest fad since my curriculum is also scripted) - but sounds like it might be beneficial for the CCRS math word problems. I was enjoying the enthusiasm of the authors until they cited Marzano. After being force-fed the educational gospel according to Marzano for years, I immediately shut-down and had to force myself to finish the last chapter and review the information in the appendices. I'll keep this book as a quick reference ~ there is some good stuff here!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the scaffolding that Lehman and Roberts present in their book and the protocols they suggest for helping students develop critical reading skills. The discussion is very much aligned with the focus in the International Baccalaureate's high school English courses. Even better, the authors provide suggestions for applying the reading protocols to students' lives; this can help students see the relevance of the thinking practices so that English doesn't seem like an imposition -- a class that has no bearing on their goals beyond high school. I am eager to discuss the book with my school-site colleagues and implement the authors' strategies in the coming year.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am energized and excited to use these strategies next year, particularly since we are revamping our curriculum. There is a great deal to support independent reading and improving reading comprehension through pairing students with the right text. Increasing stamina and fluency are paramount to improving comprehension.

[Jocelyn Lugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been one of my summer teaching books and it was great. It has clear writing (not every book on education does), lesson examples, and close reading suggestions on life itself. Super cool book- highly recommend to anyone who is teaching reading strategies. Note: this book is geared toward middle school and high school.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The words "Close Reading" makes me cringe, but this book provides a different perspective of what it means to become close to the text. The book includes real life applications and lessons to teach to help readers understand how to fall in love with a text. This book will not disappoint.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest, I did not love this book. While I thought it had some good points, I was put off by the format, which I found overly wordy and tedious. It was not the most user-friendly layout, and even the lesson ideas were a bit scattered in their approach.

[jennyreadit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it. Read it closely.