Chunking breaks a large, overwhelming text into manageable sections. Look where natural breaks are where the author shifts focus. Tell students where to group at first (as in the example above) and then allow them to group on their own over time. 4. Circle key terms Have students circle key words in the text. Key words could be: Words that are repeated throughout the text - if you only circle 5 key words in a text, you should have a good idea what the reading is about. 5. Underline the claims Instead of asking students to have them underline the underline “the important stuff,” the specific belief statements the author makes. Authors usually make several author’s claims, belief statements in a paper. 6. Left Margin: Summarize In the left margin, have students summarize each chunk (step 3) in 10 words or less. 7. Right Margin: Text Marking In the right margin, have students do some text marking such as: ✔- I knew this before ! This is new to me – ? Not sure what this means – Close Reading Strategy Practice 1. Number the paragraphs 4. Underline claims 2. Chunk paragraphs: 1 / 2 / 3 5. Left margin: Summarize 3. Circle key words 6. Right margin: Text marking Video Used for Context: Truman’s Ultimatum Regarding Hiroshima (Youtube) The Atomic Bombing of Japan in August 1945 It was very necessary to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II. During the Pacific island hopping military campaigns leading up to
Chunking breaks a large, overwhelming text into manageable sections. Look where natural breaks are where the author shifts focus. Tell students where to group at first (as in the example above) and then allow them to group on their own over time. 4. Circle key terms Have students circle key words in the text. Key words could be: Words that are repeated throughout the text - if you only circle 5 key words in a text, you should have a good idea what the reading is about. 5. Underline the claims Instead of asking students to underline “the important stuff,” have them underline the author’s claims, the specific belief statements the author makes. Authors usually make several belief statements in a paper. 6. Left Margin: Summarize In the left margin, have students summarize each chunk (step 3) in 10 words or less. 7. Right Margin: Text Marking In the right margin, have students do some text marking such as: ✔- I knew this before ! – This is new to me ? – Not sure what this means Close Reading Strategy Practice 1. Number the paragraphs 4. Underline claims 2. Chunk paragraphs: 1 / 2 / 3 5. Left margin: Summarize 3. Circle key words 6. Right margin: Text marking Video Used for Context: Truman’s Ultimatum Regarding Hiroshima (Youtube) The Atomic Bombing of Japan in August 1945 It was very necessary to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II. During the Pacific island hopping military campaigns leading up to
GED%202014%20Training%20Packet.docx