Wow! It’s been over a year since Chris Lehman (@ichrislehman) and Kate Roberts(@TeachKate) published Falling in Love with Close Reading. There have been Twitter chats, presentations, Twitter book study chats, PD sessions and much continued conversation about the many facets of close reading.

It has also been more than a year since the Close Reading Blog-a-thon!  This post “Close Reading is not THAT important!” is one of my favorites.  Have you read it?  What about the series of posts between Chris and Kate? Check out the thought-provoking posts and reread CCR Reading Anchor Standard 1.

So today, it was back to work on reading for a bit.  This is a short look into my thinking since Chris, Kate and Kristi Mraz’s (@MrazKristine) presentation at NCTE14!

• Reading –
• Close Reading –
• Reading Closely,
• Still thinking about!
• Who?
• When?
• How Often?
• Why?
• Wondering . . .
• Hopeful . . .
• Silent . . .
• Watchful . . .
• Curious
• Listening . . .
• Fun . . .
• Thoughtful . . .
• Effective! ❤

Close Reading Session – Not starting with a song . . . (sigh!) but here are screenshots from a presentation that made us laugh, cry, and cheer for its thoughtful work with “The Little Ones”!  The presentation – “Close Reading and the Little Ones: How it’s Different (And Incredibly Fun and Effective) in Early Elementary Grades” from #NCTE14

Think about “HOW” you make sense of these pictures  . . . where and when do you linger?

I was excited to try out the routine.  Amazed!  It’s all that Chris, Kate and Kristi promised.  And even more!  What an empowering tool for students!  Supportive of curiosity, wonder, and so much talk – what a wonderful way to frame paying close attention to “read” the world!  (NOT a bloody hammer for teachers!)

Not convinced?

Check out these notes! @ShawnaCoppola has the most beautiful notes.  Here is her visual of the session! If you are on Twitter and are following Shawna, you would have already seen this!  If you are not on Twitter, you should be.  Lurking is encouraged. Explore the possibilities!

Convinced?

What questions remain?