Creating Lives: An Introduction to Biography

Close Reading

Close reading is a strategy I like to use with my students because it is one of the fundamental ways to understand texts. This is a skill that isn't so easily acquired and requires much practice and attention to detail. I always stress among students that it is necessary to read texts several times to understand their meaning. I think it is helpful that I often explain to them that as an English teacher I reread texts. The example I give in class are the texts I use. I make it pretty widely know that I have taught juniors and seniors every year that I have been employed. I also explain to them that no matter how many times I have taught a text that I still reread before I start my unit on that text. I also stress the art of annotating. I make sure that students can see my copy of a text or witness me writing in my own text as a way to reaffirm that this is a good skill to have. I strongly encourage my students to use pencil while taking notes because they at the end of the year they sometimes are charged with damage to their texts, but I do model this technique in pen because it is easier for me to read.

Close reading isn't a strategy that you can have students jump right into. By the end of the school year, when this unit will be implemented, it is expected that a student have performed close reading many times and that they are able to do so with the basic understanding that close reading is the most important skill to utilize when reading literature. More specifically it means that students not only understand the text in a basic sense, but also pay attention to the patterns as well as the subtleness of a text. One of the best examples of getting students to think about texts in a multilayered way is the writing website mantx. On their site they refer to these multi-layers as addressing the four types of reading: linguistic, semantic, structural, cultural. ¹¹ While I've seen various check lists in the past that students could follow, these categories are the most comprehensive I've seen. I think of linguistic reading as the most surface-level reading of a text. Questions a student should be asking during this phase are usually "right there" questions, meaning they could point to them "right there" on the paper. Another way to approach linguistic reading is to read a text and be able to describe it. Some basic facts a student should know about these texts are:

• What kind of document are you reading?
• What is the title of the document, date of the document, source, author?
• Are there any unique qualities to the document?

• What important facts can I find in this document?
• What rhetorical devices are used and to what end?
• What is the author's tone or attitude towards the text/subject?

• What patterns are represented in this text and why are they important?
• How is the document structured and does its form equal or move away from its function?
• What kind of themes are stimulated whether explicit or implicit?

• What story does this document inform me about history?
• What kind of racial or gender construction can be read from this document?
• Is the information presented facts or feelings?

Additionally, I would add my own level of looking at a text and that would be an evaluative one. This is where the formation of a thesis begins. Students can look at the close reading they have done on a text and now based on that they should start asking themselves what about this evidence ties the details of other pieces of evidence together and what is the message they convey?

Note, these are not only the questions your students should be asking. These are brief ideas of what I want my students to get out of a variety of texts. More often than not, I don't use these exact questions. The line of questioning I use usually depends on the medium and the level of student I have. If you are looking for examples of document analysis worksheets, The National Archive Experience has several examples. ¹² This website provides pre-made document analysis worksheets for written documents, artifacts, political cartoons, maps, motion pictures, photographs, posters, and sound recordings. The forms on their website are forms that can be filled out online and printed in the classroom. Another good resource is The Library of Congress website. Additionally, they provide a wide variety of teacher analysis guides and tools. ¹³ But don't feel limited to these tools. Sometimes it is necessary to create your own tools that combine a lot of the same ideas, and perhaps even a few of your own. You are the expert of your class room; therefore, you know how your students best answer questions. I suggest looking at many examples to create your own tools.

Bucketing

The term bucketing is one that I have borrowed from the DBQ project. Bucketing is a chance for students to group together common threads among their documents. Think of buckets as categories students can place their documents into. Is their common thread culture, economics, art, politics? The list of possible buckets is conceivably never-ending since the unit question is quite vast. This allows for differentiated instruction.

For example, when bucketing I often have students that can automatically see the through-lines and those who simply cannot. I then can ask a student who is having a more difficult time bucketing if we can try to find three documents that have one through-line and write a paper on that versus another student who I can ask to use three different buckets to support one possible thesis. Bucketing is unlimited in its uses and allows for great flexibility with all kinds of students.

Some other suggestions include using the image of the bucket in your classroom. Sometimes I will have students write titles of document on specific slips of paper and physically place them into small cups that are labeled with the through-line that ties them together. Additionally, it is possible to then have the student use the slips as manipulatives. They can physically move them around on their desk and decide the organization of everything from a paragraph to an essay.

In sum, bucketing is a great organizational strategy for students. If a student is more structured and has the discipline to use a formal outline – so be it. If not, I feel that bucketing can be seen as a flexible differentiation tool.

Socratic Seminar

My students are very opinionated. For this reason, I often rely on the formal setting of the Socratic Seminar. At the beginning of the year, I spend two full class periods discussing the Socratic method and explaining the format in which I choose to run a seminar. Seminars have a few basic qualities: the set-up, the procedure, and the conclusion.

At the beginning of the year students create a name tag, with an appropriate name of their choice. That is their name card for the rest of the year. It must be visible at all times because we often have guests in the classroom. Additionally, we discuss that when we meet we sit in a Socratic circle. Once again, all faces and names need to be visible. If you do not want to participate in the discussion it is completely your choice to sit outside of the circle. I also make sure that students understand that they do have an option of joining the circle. Students can only contribute to a seminar if they are a part of the circle.

Being prepared for a Socratic seminar is one of the single best classroom management strategies. Your job in this circle is not necessarily to be the teacher, but to be a facilitator. As a facilitator, you maintain the safety of the seminar and most importantly let the students take the role of teacher and expert. One trick to make sure that students stay on track is to offer a point system when students reference another participant's comment or to refer back to text. Another rule I have is that points will be taken away if there is any ad hominem language. Seminars can become very personal very quickly, but as long as your students understand the basics and abide by the rules you can have a great discussion about a variety of topics. Another thing you can do to prepare is to have a opening question that is open-ended, has no right or wrong answer, and can briefly be answered with either a yes or a no. I present the question the day before, or at the beginning of a unit. In the case of this particular unit I would restate the question being asked in the DBQ and use Socratic seminar as a way for students to hash-out some of the points that want to argue. Additionally, it is necessary to plan for a variety of follow-up questions. I've had times where a seminar has started with a bang and within five minutes is at a standstill. I can't stress enough the need for teachers to do their homework. Being prepared usually results in a rich Socratic discussion.

Students are often frustrated when the bell rings during a Socratic seminar. That becomes an opportunity for you to have students take what they are excited about and offer a chance for them to write. In reference to the DBQ, I might ask them to write 8-10 sentences on something they completely disagreed with during the seminar or an idea they really admired that someone else provided.