Education Expert Reveals a 6-Step Process for Developing Students’ Close Reading Skills

Bloomington, Ind. (April 3, 2018)—Studies show that developing students’ close reading skills is an essential component for helping them to develop into well-informed, thoughtful citizens. In Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom, published by Marzano Research, author Jeff Flygare offers high school and middle school educators extensive guidance on how to introduce close reading to students and help them improve their comprehension and critical thinking.

“An ever-increasing demand for critical thinking in schools and the workplace challenges students today, who need tools to conduct that critical thinking,” explained Flygare. “Close reading represents one of the most powerful tools teachers can develop in students to prepare them for this challenge.”

The highly practical resource explores a six-step close reading process designed for use in all content areas. The six steps include:

1. Prereading: Answering a question and accessing background knowledge on the close reading passage
2. Reading twice and annotating: Reading through the selection twice while annotating potential evidence
3. Generating questions: Using annotations to generate questions about the text that are useful in a general discussion or as prompts for the next reading
4. Reading analytically: Reading the text analytically a third time, focusing on the questions identified in step 3
5. Discussing as a class or analyzing individually: Finalizing the class discussion or individual analysis of the information gathered from step 4
6. Processing: Drawing conclusion

“Students who master this process will not only find success in classwork and standardized tests but also develop the critical-thinking abilities essential for the rest of their lives,” stressed Flygare. Each chapter presents suggestions and teaching strategies for sharing the steps in the process with students and encouraging them to develop and deepen their abilities.

Peg Bacon, provost and professor emerita at the University of Colorado–Colorado Springs, highly recommends the title to educators of grades 6–12, stating, “Jeff Flygare has managed to solve the mystery of close reading and to provide secondary teachers with useful tools for teaching the strategy to students. His six-step process and multiple examples are invaluable.”

Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom is part of The Classroom Strategies Series. The series aims to provide teachers, as well as building and district administrators, with an in-depth treatment of research-based instructional strategies that can be used in the classroom to enhance student achievement.

Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom is now available to order at SolutionTree.com and MarzanoResearch.com.

About the Author
Jeff Flygare is a former classroom teacher, English department chair, professional developer, and building-level leader. During his 26-year career teaching high school English, he taught nearly every course in the department. Jeff developed classes in mythology, Shakespeare, philosophy, and comparative religions, and worked with social studies colleagues to create an interdisciplinary class called world studies, which he team-taught successfully for 17 years.

About Marzano Research
Located in Centennial, Colorado, Marzano Research is a research and professional development organization that translates research into strategies educators can use to significantly advance student achievement.

The company’s solutions are based on Dr. Robert J. Marzano’s 50 years of education research, combined with action research conducted in schools. Services and products include customizable on-site professional development, educator events, books, videos and online courses, with a strong emphasis on curriculum development, instruction, assessment, teacher support and development, student engagement and personalized competency-based education.

Learn more about Solution Tree.