Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Close Reading of Poetry: Practice 2 (English I Reading)
Read carefully in order to identify allusion, imagery, metaphor, and symbolism and to evaluate their impact on the meaning of a text. RL.9-10.9 alllusions to other works.
Yale University
Yale National Initiative:take a Stab at It: Exploring Character in Julius Caesar
This curriculum unit guides learners in a deep investigation of the characters in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, and in developing an appreciation of Shakespeare's talent for language and his insightful understanding of human...
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Rhetorical Reading: Strategies for Active Reading
This lesson focuses on strategies for active reading such as annotating your texts, reading multiple times, and using your prior knowledge.
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Jefferson Lab: Reading Passages: The Earth's Energy Budget
Read and fill in the blanks of this passage explaining the earth's engergy budget. Each blank has a dropdown menu with choices. When you finish, click CHECK MY ANSWERS. If you pick a wrong answer, the right answer will be displayed along...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A New Day [Pdf]
"A New Day" is a one-page, fictional reading passage about children who learned about civil rights marches while visiting their grandfather in Mississippi. They helped people register to vote before President Obama was elected for the...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Close Reading of Prose: Practice 1 (English I Reading)
In this lesson, students practice close reading strategies to help them understand a writer's tone. They will examine the writer's choice of diction, details, and irony to identify the writer's attitude.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A Good Student [Pdf]
"A Good Student" is a one page, fictional reading passage about a freshmen going to a large high school on the first day of school. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Literary Text: Close Reading of Prose: Practice 2
This activity focuses on close reading, the careful, sustained reading of a text. One strategy to help you read closely is to ask yourself questions such as What is your overall impression of the passage? What mood does the passage...
Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University (Dr. Mc Clennen): How to Do a Close Reading
This guide is written for college students, but should be very useful for upper level high school students as well. The writer first describes fourteen steps to take in doing a close reading, then provides six pieces of advice on how to...
Thinkport Education
Thinkport: Qualitative & Quantitative Information: Tree Destroying Bugs
In this science-themed literacy lesson, middle school students read about an exotic bug and integrate qualitative and quantitative information through close reading and viewing of diagrams.
McGraw Hill
Mc Graw Hill: Mastering the Common Core Accessing Complex Texts With M. Russo
This professional development video is instructed by the National Reading Consultant, Marisa Russo. She provides explanations about what makes a complex text, why text complexity is important, and techniques to help student access...
McGraw Hill
Mc Graw Hill: How to Use Strategies to Teach Students to Access Complex Texts
In this short video, the strategies of summarizing, clarifying, and asking-answering questions are used. These instructional tools will help teachers show students how to access complex texts. [5:54] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.10
McGraw Hill
Mc Graw Hill: How to Teach Close Reading With Complex Texts
This instructional video demonstrates ways to incorporate "close reading" with complex text. [56:53]
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: George Washington Carver [Pdf]
"George Washington Carver" is a one page, biographical passage about George Washington Carver, an African American professor who taught farmers and students better methods for farming, including planting peanuts to improve the soil. It...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: George Washington Carver [Pdf]
"George Washington Carver" is a one page, biographical passage about George Washington Carver, a famous African American, who taught farmers better farming methods including planting peanuts to improve the soil. It is followed by an...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Farmers [Pdf]
"Prairie Farmers" is a one page, historical fiction, journal describing life for farmers in the prairie throughout the year. It shows the difficulties including bad weather and fires. It requires students to closely read the journal and...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Community Progress [Pdf]
"Community Progress" is a one page, realistic fiction passage about how students created a mural for their school, which generated lots of attention from the press, parents, and other schools. It is followed by constructed-response...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Columbus and the Egg [Pdf]
"Columbus and the Egg" is a one page, historical fictional passage about Christopher Columbus's return to Spain after discovering America. Some people said anyone could sail the seas. Columbus used an egg to make a point. It is followed...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A Proud Flight [Pdf]
"A Proud Flight" is a one page, Greek myth about Icarus and Daedelus. The father and son were imprisoned, and in order to escape, Daedelus made wings using bird feathers covered with wax. He warned Icarus not to get too near the sun or...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Literary Text: Close Reading of Poetry: Practice 3
This lesson will help you comprehend the poet's meaning by giving you practice in finding imagery, metaphors, symbolism, and allusions.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Close Reading of Poetry: Practice 2 (English I Reading)
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] As you work through this lesson, you will learn how to interpret poetry. You will learn how to spot a metaphor, you will learn to identify imagery, and you will be introduced...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Close Reading of Prose: Practice 1 (English I Reading)
As you read through the texts in this lesson, you will practice close reading strategies to help you understand a writer's tone. You'll be examining the writer's choice of diction, details, and irony to identify the writer's attitude.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Practical Criticism
A general introduction to literary criticism, this website provides teachers and students with idea about how to derive meaning from poetry through personal interpretation.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Don't Need Friends 2nd Read
In this lesson, students will engage in a second guided reading of "Don't Need Friends" by Carolyn Crimi. Students will compare and contrast elements within the story and elements between two stories.