let’s have a close talk

BY: LYNDSEY KUSTER

The following resources are free for you to use to help you kick off close reading in your

class!

You can read more about how I introduced close reading to my students over at my blog.

Click HERE to read.

Enjoy!

note JUST A

If you need additional resources, check out my close reading packet:

This packet explains the following: -What is Close Reading? -Key Details About Close Reading -What Is the Teacher's Job? -How To Ask Text Dependent Questions -How to Introduce Close Reading to Your Primary Students (this includes a great introductory lesson) -Text-Dependent Question Suggestions (fiction and non-fiction questions)

Click HERE to grab this

176 page resource.

close talk? what is a

“A close talk is a purposeful, focused discussion about a brief

text(s) with the goal of deepening student understanding of the

content as well as increasing the ability to participate in academic discussions. The discussion only

occurs after a close reading lesson and is designed as a

natural progression to scaffold student cognition.”

Sisson, Diana, and Betsy Sisson. Close Reading in Elementary School Bringing Readers and Texts Together.. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. Print.

- Diana Sisson and Betsy Sisson

Close talks link the reading process with dialogue. You must carefully plan for a close talk with a purpose in mind. Develop questions that will encourage your students to think beyond the factual recall of the text. Literal level questions will lead you on the path of a rapid fire question-answer volley between you and your students. The power of a close talk is its potential to engage students in sustained, layered thinking about text within the environment of a classroom discussion Carefully select an appropriate text for a close talk that is challenging and thought-provoking Close talk of 30 minutes, prepare three to five questions to guide the discussion. Avoid questions that only have ONE answer. The questions you develop should build off the thoughts and ideas of others. Questions should require students to refer back to the text to search for evidence that supports their thinking. Questions: Interpretive: Why do you think ____ happened? What lesson can we learn from this story? What is the theme of this story? What do you believe is the main idea of this text? What do you think the purpose of this text is? Why? How would you describe ____? How are ___ and ___ similar? How are ___ and ____ different? Why do you think ____ happened? What does ____ mean? How are these two texts alike/unalike? Would changing the point of view also change the story? Does the illustration/picture/photograph change the way you think about the text? What would you include in a summary of the text? What is the most important word/phrase/sentence in the text? Evaluative Does the author have sufficient reasons to support this argument? Is the evidence used by the author credible? Do you think the author organizes his/her reasons in the most effective way to support the argument? Why or why not? How can you refute the author’s argument? Clarifying Questions: Why do you say that? Can you explain what you mean by that? What evidence from the text supports your answer? How does this connect to what we have discussed before? What does that tell us about the text? Focusing: How does this relate to our conversation? Can you find evidence from the text to support your thoughts? Guidelines for Participating in Close Talk Prepare your students for participating in a close talk. Be sure to go over the following protocol before beginning a close talk: 1. Be respectful to others when listening and speaking.

2. Refer back to the text to support your responses.

3. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in the

discussion.

4. Stay focused on the topic.

5. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

Close Talk Procedures: 1. Read text prior to participating in close talk. Students bring their

text with them to discussion. 2. Teacher poses an opening discussion question to begin class dialogue. 3. Students respond to question, sharing their own insights, citing textual evidence, and linking their ideas to their classmates’ ideas. 4. Teacher enters the discussion to elicit more rigorous thinking, clarify misconceptions, encourage the citing of text support, or to re-focus the group. 5. Teacher poses two or more additional questions that encourage deeper analysis. 6. The small group summarizes their learning.

tips close tal k You must carefully plan for a close talk with a purpose

in mind. Develop questions that will encourage your students to think beyond the factual recall of the text.

Literal level questions will lead you on the path of a rapid fire question-answer volley between you and your students. The power of a close talk is its potential to engage students in sustained, layered thinking about text within the environment of a classroom discussion.

Carefully select an appropriate text for a close talk that is challenging and thought-provoking.

For close talks that are 20-30 minutes long, prepare three to five questions to guide the discussion. Avoid questions that only have ONE answer. The questions you develop should build off the thoughts and ideas of others. Questions should require students to refer back to the text to search for evidence that supports their thinking.

Sisson, Diana, and Betsy Sisson. Close Reading in Elementary School Bringing Readers and Texts Together.. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. Print.

procedures close tal k

These posters hang in my small group area to help my kiddos remember how to be a good listener and active participant. The “Can You Prove It?” poster gives my students sentence starters (example: I know this because on page ______ it says…”)

1. Read text prior to participating in close talk. Have students bring their text with them to discussion.

2. Teacher poses an opening discussion question to begin class dialogue. 3. Students respond to question, sharing their own insights, citing textual evidence, and linking their ideas to their classmates’ ideas. 4. Teacher enters the discussion to elicit more rigorous thinking, clarify misconceptions, encourage the citing of text support, or to re-focus the group. 5. Teacher poses two or more additional questions that encourage deeper analysis. 6. The small group summarizes their learning. Sisson, Diana, and Betsy Sisson. Close Reading in Elementary School Bringing Readers and Texts Together.. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. Print.

questions close tal k

Prepare your students for participating in a close talk. The posters you see below hang in my small

group area. You can find these posters in my Close Reading packet HERE.

These posters hang in my small group area to help my kiddos remember how to be a good listener and active participant. The “Can You Prove It?” poster gives my students sentence starters (example: I know this because on page ______ it says…”)

Guidelines for Participating in Close Talk Prepare your students for participating in a close talk. Be sure to go over the following protocol before beginning a close talk: 1. Be respectful to others when listening and speaking.

2. Refer back to the text to support your responses.

3. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in

the discussion.

4. Stay focused on the topic.

5. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

5 { }

close talk guidelines

Be respectful to others when listening and speaking. Refer back to the text to support your responses. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in the discussion. Stay focused on the topic. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Guidelines for Participating in Close Talk Prepare your students for participating in a close talk. Be sure to go over the following protocol before beginning a close talk: 1. Be respectful to others when listening and speaking.

2. Refer back to the text to support your responses.

3. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in

the discussion.

4. Stay focused on the topic.

5. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

5 { }

close talk guidelines

Be respectful to others when listening and speaking. Refer back to the text to support your responses. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in the discussion. Stay focused on the topic. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Guidelines for Participating in Close Talk Prepare your students for participating in a close talk. Be sure to go over the following protocol before beginning a close talk: 1. Be respectful to others when listening and speaking.

2. Refer back to the text to support your responses.

3. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in

the discussion.

4. Stay focused on the topic.

5. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

{ }

Be an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT

1.

2.

3.

4.

1 2 3 4

Ignores discussion Distracts others Shows little understanding of the text Does not ask or answer any

questions

Listens respectfully Follows discussion Shows some understanding of the

text Asks and answers some questions

Listens respectfully Engages in discussion Shows understanding of the text Asks and answers questions and

provides evidence to support response

Listens respectfully Moves discussion forward Shows understanding of the text Asks and answers questions and provides

evidence to support response Connects responses to others’ comments

Guidelines for Participating in Close Talk Prepare your students for participating in a close talk. Be sure to go over the following protocol before beginning a close talk: 1. Be respectful to others when listening and speaking.

2. Refer back to the text to support your responses.

3. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in

the discussion.

4. Stay focused on the topic.

5. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

{ }

Be an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT

1.

2.

3.

4.

1 2 3 4

Ignores discussion Distracts others Shows little understanding of the text Does not ask or answer any

questions

Listens respectfully Follows discussion Shows some understanding of the

text Asks and answers some questions

Listens respectfully Engages in discussion Shows understanding of the text Asks and answers questions and

provides evidence to support response

Listens respectfully Moves discussion forward Shows understanding of the text Asks and answers questions and provides

evidence to support response Connects responses to others’ comments

Guidelines for Participating in Close Talk Prepare your students for participating in a close talk. Be sure to go over the following protocol before beginning a close talk: 1. Be respectful to others when listening and speaking.

2. Refer back to the text to support your responses.

3. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in

the discussion.

4. Stay focused on the topic.

5. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

{ }

Be an 1.

2.

3.

4. 1 2 3

4

Ignores discussion Distracts others Shows little understanding of the text Does not ask or answer any

questions

Listens respectfully Follows discussion Shows some understanding of the

text Asks and answers some questions

Listens respectfully Engages in discussion Shows understanding of the text Asks and answers questions and

provides evidence to support response

Listens respectfully Moves discussion forward Shows understanding of the text Asks and answers questions and provides

evidence to support response Connects responses to others’ comments

3

Guidelines for Participating in Close Talk Prepare your students for participating in a close talk. Be sure to go over the following protocol before beginning a close talk: 1. Be respectful to others when listening and speaking.

2. Refer back to the text to support your responses.

3. Connect your ideas and thoughts to what you have heard in

the discussion.

4. Stay focused on the topic.

5. Be prepared to share what you have learned at the end of the close talk.

{ }

1.

2.

3.

4.

Ignores discussion Distracts others Shows little understanding of the text Does not ask or answer any

questions

Listens respectfully Follows discussion Shows some understanding of the

text Asks and answers some questions

Listens respectfully Engages in discussion Shows understanding of the text Asks and answers questions and

provides evidence to support response

Listens respectfully Moves discussion forward Shows understanding of the text Asks and answers questions and provides

evidence to support response Connects responses to others’ comments

Be an PARTICIPANT

active

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student to do list data participation

Student’s Name