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Although close reading and text analysis are related they are not identical processes. Text analysis requires readers to delve more deeply into text than close reading does. Close reading may be absent of text analysis, but text analysis is never absent of close reading. Close reading examines words, sentences, concepts of a text through rereadings and peer discussion. Text analysis is more encompassing as it involves critical analysis of content, concepts, author’s craft, word choice, characterization, text structure, and other aspects of text. The analytic process also requires that students cogently express their analysis of what they have read in either oral or written mode.
In the elementary grades, text analysis is an on-going process of coaching, stretching and enhancing students’ thinking initially through discussion and later transitioning to analytic writing. The process of text analysis begins with whole group introduction of analysis by soliciting students’ understanding of the definition. Students may consider analysis to include “to look at more closely,” or “to break into parts to examine.” A merger of these definitions is appropriate for elementary grades. The teacher should initiate instruction using a topic or an experience common to the students’ grade level (i.e, appropriate behavior during a school assembly, a discussion of the result of a sporting event, or a poem or story read-aloud by the teacher to the entire class).
Grade 2: Mr. Putter and Tabby Fly the Plane by Cynthia Rylant, tells of an old man and his cat who enjoy their daily routines with each other. Mr. Putter still likes toys, even though he is old. Tabby on the other hand, isn’t always as fond of the toys, especially the plane. The example provided here is from the second chapter. We feel that it is better to give primary grade children the initial background of a chapter book before having them engage in either close reading or text analysis. Concept-related vocabulary words may include “promise” and “brave.” Comparing how these words affect the characters to themselves can lead to rich discussion.
If needed, the teacher should recommend rereading Part 1 for those students who struggle and need to revisit the information presented there. Tabby’s subtle reactions to the toy plane can be explored by readers with scaffolded instruction. If this story is read in the beginning of second grade, some students may not yet be able to completely write their thoughts; however, most should be able to draw a picture and label it. A writing task such as the following requires the students to include textual information in their response: “Did Tabby become more afraid or more happy with each problem of the toy plane? Be sure to include proof from the story to support your answer.”
Grade 3: My Dog Made Me Write This Book. This is a boy-and-his-dog story with a twist: the dog is not the boy’s best friend. However, eventually Eric is lavished with affection from his pet. Elizabeth Fensham’s engaging story should be very relatable to most third graders. The book’s fourth chapter was selected for this example because it is brief and allows children the advantage of gaining initial information about the characters and plot from previous chapters. Third graders should be able to engage in close reading and text analysis for this chapter. The connotation of words such as “abandoned” and “whimpering” may lead to analytical discussion. Teachers should decide which phrases or parts of the text they feel would be significant for the students to annotate. A suggested writing task meant to reveal analysis of what was read follows: What do you think Eric expected to see when he went to the dog shelter? How did Eric’s expectations change once he spent some time there? Use some words or phrases from the text to explain your thinking.
Following are examples of quality texts for readers in grades 4 and 5 as well as instructional recommendations based on our practices.
After establishing a clear definition of text analysis, the teacher should initiate instruction using a topic or an experience common to students. In grades 4 and 5, text analysis is an ongoing process of coaching, stretching, and enhancing students' thinking initially through discussion and later transitioning to analytic writing. The demands of both close reading and text analysis are more substantial at the upper elementary than at primary grades. The writing component is a rigorous task for upper elementary students who have to maintain stamina in order to produce a thoughtful, analytic written piece.
When children are immersed daily in a writing workshop model they naturally can sustain the stamina for the writing portion of this task (Fletcher & Portalupi, 2001). Teachers should provide scaffolded instruction to guide and coach students through the process of thinking and writing analytically.
During a lesson on text analysis, a fourth grade teacher began with examining the start of the 2021 season for the city’s professional baseball team and why it was a stronger start for the team in comparison to the previous season (this was an example of the teacher providing the inference to analyze). Then the class brainstormed approximately 6 reasons why the team was off to a stronger start. Each reason was examined for its relative strength to the task of analysis (this included the idea of providing evidence to support the individual reasons). This discussion resulted in weighing the reasons against each other in order to select the three strongest reasons. The teacher purposefully structured the lesson this way knowing that a common feature of state tests requires students to analyze text using the strongest reasons determined. Once the three reasons were selected, students needed to provide concrete evidence (similar to the textual evidence in a reading selection). The teacher guided students’ wording of the piece while scribing the students’ ideas for all to visually access. Once evidence was selected to support each of the three reasons given, the teacher provided instruction for taking each reason, along with the evidence, and incorporating students’ thinking to meld all of these crucial components. This instruction should follow along with the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model (GRM) (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983). As these ideas are combined, the teacher scribed each of these components into a well-constructed paragraph for students to view. The teacher then read the paragraph aloud to students for the purpose of revision related to clarity and word choice. The second and third reasons then became the focus using the “we do” portion of the GRM, following the same series of steps as with the first reason. Once these individual paragraphs were
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