As part of its commitment to providing resources to Maine educators, the Maine DOE has recently developed two webinars highlighting an instructional strategy that fosters the ability to read complex texts.
Developed and led by the Department’s English language arts content specialists, the first webinar focuses on close reading with primary grade students while the second webinar features strategies and tools to support close reading in middle and high schools.
The ability to read and comprehend complex text is vital to success after school, yet there is often a wide gap between the complexity levels of texts high school students can read and those necessary for success in college, career and civic life. Maine’s updated learning standards for English language arts and literacy reflect the gradual increase in complexity so that students develop proficiency at comprehending text with the complexity they will experience as they enter adulthood.
To build competence at reading increasingly complex text, students need instructional experiences that support this ability. One instructional method that can help accomplish this goal is the use of close reading processes. As described in a previous DOE Newsroom article, close reading is an instructional routine in which students critically evaluate a text or segment of a text through the use of text-based questioning strategies, progressive depth of analysis, annotation and collaborative conversations.
Click here to view “Reading Like Detectives: Close Reading With Primary Grade Students and click here to view “Close Reading Strategies: Supporting Deep Content Knowledge.”