Analysis of primary and secondary sources: Primary sources are those accounts recorded from people who witnessed or participated in the event themselves; these sources include journals, letters, oral history recordings; secondary sources are those written by others based on primary sources and the opinions of scholars past and present.
Attending to such features: Close reading demands paying attention to any features, such as format, source, or date published, that might add subtle but noteworthy meaning to the document.
Cite specific textual evidence: All claims, assertions, or arguments about what a text means or says require evidence from within the text itself, not the reader’s opinion or experience; students should be able to quote or refer to a specific passage from the text to support their idea.
Conclusions drawn from the text: Readers take a group of details (different findings, series of events, related examples) and draw from them an insight or understanding about their meaning or importance within the passage or the text as a whole.
Connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole: It is not enough to discern the meaning of a small detail; close reading demands connecting all the dots to reveal how these small details contribute to the meaning of the larger text.
Explicitly: Clearly stated in great or precise detail; may suggest factual information or literal meaning, though not necessarily the case.
Gaps or inconsistencies in the account: Some gaps are intentional, meant to leave room for interpretation or allow for some ambiguity that adds depth and complexity to a text; unintended gaps or inconsistencies undermine the credibility of the work or author by raising questions about the accuracy or reliability of the information.
Important distinctions the author makes: Authors draw a line at times between ideas, categories, or certain elements, attributing more meaning or importance to one than another.
Informational text: These include nonfiction texts from a range of sources and written for a variety of purposes; everything from essays to advertisements, historical documents to op-ed pieces. Informational texts include written arguments as well as infographics.
Literature: This text can include not only fiction, poetry, drama, and graphic stories but also artworks, such as master paintings or works by preeminent photographers.
Logical inferences: To infer, readers add what they learned from the text to what they already know about the subject; however, for the inference to be logical, it must be based on evidence from the text.
Read closely (or close reading): Reading that emphasizes not only surface details but the deeper meaning and larger connections between words, sentences, and the full text; this also demands scrutiny of craft, including arguments and style used by the author.
Strong and thorough textual evidence: Not all evidence is created equal; students need to choose those examples or quotations that provide the best example of what they are saying or most compelling quotation to support their assertion.
Support conclusions: Related to citing textual evidence, this phrase requires readers to back up their claims about what a text says with evidence, such as examples, details, or quotations.
Text: In its broadest meaning, a text is whatever one is trying to read: a poem, essay, essay, or article; in its more modern sense, a text can also be an image, an artwork, speech, or multimedia format such as a website, film, or social media message, such as a Tweet.
Where the text leaves matters uncertain: The writer may intend to be ambiguous or unclear to imply a lack of clarity or resolution about this subject; it can also mean the writer did not tie up loose ends, thus, creating a weak link in an argument or narrative.
Planning to Teach: What to Do—and How
Reading Standards: Key Ideas and Details
Reading 2: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
9–10 Literature
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
11–12 Literature
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
9–10 Informational Text
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
11–12 Informational Text
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
9–10 History/Social Studies
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
11–12 History/Social Studies
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
9–10 Science/Technical Subjects
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace the text’s explanation or depiction of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an accurate summary of the text.
11–12 Science/Technical Subjects
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.
Source: Copyright © 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.
Common Core Reading Standard 2: What the Student Does
9–10 Literature
Gist: Read to discover the main idea or theme, examining. how the author introduces and treats this idea or theme as the text unfolds; then summarize the text without analyzing it.
What key idea does the author introduce that may matter later?
What does the author say about this idea over the course of the text?
What details contribute most to the major theme at different junctures?
What details are so integral