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"Timothy Shanahan defined the practice of close reading more succinctly, explaining that close reading "is an intensive analysis of a text in order to come to terms with what it says, how it says it, and what it means." So is it a rereading of text? Yes, but with a clearly defined purpose. Those of us who teach novels in the classroom know it can't be a rereading of the entire text; instead, it's a concentrated look at a selected excerpt in order to study a limited number of text attributes such as organization, sentence structure, vocabulary, symbolism, character development, plot advancement, etc. The purpose and focus of each close reading depends upon the text itself, thus leading to the CCSS push for more complex selections. Below I've provided six suggestions for making the most of close reading experiences with students."

"if responding personally to text isn't leading students to deeper understanding, then where should teachers turn to help students improve their comprehension? We should turn to the text itself. Enter close reading."

"a shared close reading of a complex text in which students propose emerging understandings, supported by textual evidence, with occasional reminders and re-direction by teacher-facilitators."

is a website launched by Student Achievement Partners, an organization founded by authors of the Common Core State Standards, to share free, open-source resources to support Common Core implementation at all levels. Resources currently available include the most recent edition of the English Language Arts (ELA) Publishers' Criteria (designed to guide publishers and curriculum developers as they work to ensure alignment with the K-2 and 3-12 standards in English language arts (ELA) and literacy for history/social studies, science, and technical subjects); Publishers' Criteria for the CCSS in Mathematics for Grades K-8; close reading exemplars; a guide to creating text dependent questions; and a series of tools for addressing the major instructional shifts in the CCSS, as developed by classroom educators.