Using Close Reading and
Text-Dependent
Questions To Teach Science
by Kaitlyn Eagon
With the implementation of Common Core
State Standards (2010), informational texts
have a greater emphasis in the classroom. To
help students meet these new standards,
teachers are often expected to teach science
through reading instruction. This can be very
difficult to do. Many teachers have found
themselves asking the question, “How can I
use reading instruction time to teach science
content?” One way I have found to accomplish
this is by using the close reading and text-
dependent questions strategy, which is the
focus of this article.
“Close reading is an instructional routine in which students critically examine a text, espe-
cially through
repeated read-
ing” (Frey & Fisher,
2012a, p. 179).
Close reading
actively involves
students with the
text. Through anno-
tations and class discussions, the students are
able to learn independently, and close reading
encourages critical thinking. Close reading is
the perfect opportunity to incorporate science
into reading instruction.
Text-dependent questions require students to go back into their reading to find the answer. These questions “redirect students to the text to provide evidence and support for their answers” (Neff, 2014, p. 1). Students read and reread each part of the text to make inferences, formulate an opinion, discuss
author’s purpose, and determine meaning of
vocabulary and text structure. Further, “[t]ext-dependent questions should require the
students to think more deeply each time they
read the text” (Neff, 2014, p. 1). They can then
make comparisons to their own background
knowledge and experiences (Frey & Fisher,
2012b).
Learning Goal and Text Selection
The learning goal for the close reading and
text-dependent questions activity was for
students to be able to describe gravity as a
force that moves objects
without touching them.
The text was compiled
from two different Inter-
net resources and chosen
because it was second-
grade specific and com-
plex. According to
Hinchman and Moore
(2013), “the CCSS suggests that all students encounter challenging texts that are worth reading and rereading closely” (p. 444). The text requires students to apply information from one section of the text in order to understand the next section.
Content Contribution
Kaitlyn Eagon teaches second grade at Fair Play Elementary. She is currently working on her masters degree in literacy at Missouri State University. She graduated in 2012 from Southwest Baptist University with a bachelor's degree in elementary education and concentration in Spanish.
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