Close Reading of Informational Texts: Assessment-Driven Instruction in Grades 3-8

In the middle of chapter 2, I stopped to look up something in the index and discovered...no index! The publisher had printed to page 162 and the reprinted pages 67-98. Amazon was wonderful about taking back the defective copy and sending me a replacement. I just hope that the replacement is in it's entirety! I would rate the book 4 stars so far. I'm finding it a very interesting and practical book about close reading, with many ideas I'll be able to incorporate into my fifth grade classroom. The publisher, however, gets 1 star--boo, hiss!

Close Reading of Informational Texts by Sunday Cummins is an excellent contribution to the field of reading and an absolute must have when planning for lessons. I had several A Ha! moments when reading this book. The first came early: reading is not just isolated strategies, but many strategies working together. I realized that maybe by teaching reading strategies in isolation I may have given my students the impression that reading was about tapping one's prior knowledge or setting a purpose for reading or self-monitoring instead of the realization that reading is about all of those strategies overlapping as a student tackles a text. Another A Ha! moment: Sunday starts the reading conversation with synthesis. I always ended the conversation with it. The genius of starting with synthesis is how much sense it makes to the students. It makes clear to them that this is why we are reading, we want to know what the author is trying to tell us. And by looking at the words, sentences and details that the author uses, our students can figure that out. It seems simple, but the main point of reading often gets lost in a sea of reading strategies.The lessons that are outlined in the book will transfer to whatever topic you are working on with your students and any informational texts you are using. Sunday's examples of how to assess students and what to say to help them move forward highlight techniques that will also transfer to any assessment situation.As I read this book, I couldn't help but think of all the students that I taught before this book came out, and how I wish that I could do certain things over with them. Impossible, of course, but this book has clarified my thinking on the reading process, illuminated what close reading is, and one I will be using in my classroom from this point on.

The ideas in this book are good. But it's an extremely boring/long-winded read. Overall it's very wordy and it's hard to quickly get the information you want to get out of it. I would give it a 5-star if it were organized and written in a better format. The materials presented are great--if you can endure reading through the book. I haven't finished the entire book but I have gathered a few good points out of it so far. I am not sure I can finish the entire book! Most of the good ideas are buried within the long chapters and paragraphs. I wish there are more tables/bullets to help readers search for the important points.

With greater push being placed on educators to teach informational text, I found Sunday Cummins' book to be an invaluable tool to add to the top shelf of my tool box. My only regret is that I didn't discover her book several years ago. Ms. Cummins walks the reader through conducting Close Read lessons practically step by step including instructional strategies, anchor charts, samples of student work, templates, sample lessons, and illustrations of her own model lessons with students. I loved how she formatted each chapter, providing a consistent layout of each big idea she wanted to get across to her readers. As a Teacher Leader at my school, I walked away with many lesson ideas to model to my colleagues as well as a Study Guide to use during PLCs. After reading just half of this book, I went on to Amazon and immediately purchased another book by this author on text complexity. You should be prepared to do the same!

As I read this book for my reading course, I can tell you this is not just a book study and put away, this is a book tho keep on your shelp and wearit out. Some great keys to making close reading of informational text a reality in your classroom. It even caused me to revisit some old lessons learned and explain some things that I just did. I am actually able to do them with purpose now and understanding.My only complaint is that in the Kindle version of the text, it does not have page numbers but location. This serves as a disservice for persons who are reading it with fellow staff members, in class and even looking for help on their own. The book refers to specific pages in the index, not location. I would recommend to that pages numbers be considered as guides along with location for the go to tool.

I have found Close Reading of Informational Texts to be of extreme value for educators seeking meaningful understanding and teaching strategies for getting students deeper into text for meaning and understanding. In our fiction rich learning environments, Dr. Cummins takes us through a systemic journey of informational text leading to deeper levels of understanding and meaning. Using models from primary and intermediate students, we as educators, will benefit from the classroom examples as well as how instructional practice melds with appropriate design of assessment. Dr. Cummins helps us navigate our students through informational text while assisting us to hone our own skillful teaching. After reading and using this reference I have a better understanding students acquisition of knowledge in this genre how it supports personal reflective teaching. As a designer of curriculum and developer of instructional best practice, I have personally found this book to be a valuable reference guide. It should be in every educators Common Core reference library! Laura Beltchenko