In addition to learning what we can about the art of close reading, teachers that I am working with are also finding their study of the following very helpful as they plan to implement the third instructional shift underpinning the Common Core:
- Jim Burke’s text, The English Teacher’s Companion (which my former grad students will remember fondly), his work relevant to teaching with questions, and his use of sentence frames (which he touches on in page 34 of this document). Burke also founded the English Companion Ning, where literacy-minded folks can connect with others, share ideas, and problem solve together.
- Resources relevant to rhetoric, some of which I have bookmarked here.
- Resources relevant to rhetorical fallacies–our study has begun with logical fallacies specifically.
Helping readers follow writers into the depths of the arguments that they make or the stories they unfold requires skill. Adopting practices that are grounded in the use of specific strategies seems to be empowering the teachers I am working with to approach this shift with greater confidence. The study of these practices is also preparing us to help every reader become a writer who can execute a powerful argument and write from sources as well.
