Close+Readings


 * David Coleman & close reading using MLK Jr's Letter from a Birmingham Jail - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho_ntaYbL7o


 * Letter from Birmingham Jail Close Reading: Example #2 (QuickTime Video) - download it from this link: http://engageny.org/resource/close-reading-of-text-mlk-letter-from-birmingham-jail/


 * Preparing for a Close Reading Video : http://engageny.org/resource/preparing-for-close-reading-with-students/


 * Grant Wiggins comments on close reading - http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/close-reading-of-the-text-demanded-in-the-cc-hardly-new-so-why-the-fuss/

> [|How to do a //Close Reading// - YouTube] >
 * Examples of MS close read lessons (from EngageNY)
 * How to Conduct a Close Reading (Student-produced video using Dr. Seuss's __Oh, The Places You'll Go__):


 * Dialectical Journals:[[file:dialectical-journal-handout.doc]] **

The term “Dialectic” means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving question and answer.” Think of your dialectical journal as a series of conversations with the texts we read during this course. The process is meant to help you develop a better understanding of the texts we read. Use your journal to incorporate your personal responses to the texts, your ideas about the themes we cover and our class discussions. You will find that it is a useful way to process what you’re reading, prepare yourself for group discussion, and gather textual evidence for your Literary Analysis assignments.


 * Procedure: **


 * As you read, choose passages that stand out to you and record them in the left-hand column of a T-chart (//ALWAYS include page numbers)//.
 * In the right column, write your response to the text (ideas/insights, questions, reflections, and comments on each passage)
 * If you choose, you can label your responses using the following codes:
 * (Q) Question – ask about something in the passage that is unclear
 * (C) Connect – make a connection to your life, the world, or another text
 * (P) Predict – anticipate what will occur based on what’s in the passage
 * (CL) Clarify – answer earlier questions or confirm/disaffirm a prediction
 * (R) Reflect – think deeply about what the passage means in a broad sense – not just to the characters in the story. What conclusions can you draw about the world, about human nature, or just the way things work?
 * (E) Evaluate - make a judgment about the character(s), their actions, or what the author is trying to say
 * Complete journal entries for at least two passages each week. You can earn up to 25 points per week for your journals.


 * Sample Dialectical Journal entry: THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O’Brien **


 * Passages from the text || Pg#s || Comments & Questions ||
 * “-they carried like freight trains; they carried it on their backs and shoulders-and for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was at least the single abiding certainty that they would never be at a loss for things to carry”. || Pg 2 || (R) O’brien chooses to end the first section of the novel with this sentence. He provides excellent visual details of what each solider in Vietnam would carry for day-to-day fighting. He makes you feel the physical weight of what soldiers have to carry for simple survival. When you combine the emotional weight of loved ones at home, the fear of death, and the responsibility for the men you fight with, with this physical weight, you start to understand what soldiers in Vietnam dealt with every day. This quote sums up the confusion that the men felt about the reasons they were fighting the war, and how they clung to the only certainty - things they had to carry - in a confusing world where normal rules were suspended. ||