Close Reading - Do Not Disturb

To learn more about this resource watch the video here and flick through the images provided on this page.
 
The resource includes both Microsoft and Google versions, plus a really simple set of teacher instructions to show you how to add new pages, choosing the template(s) you want to use for students. (As shown in the video.)
 
Students often lack confidence to provide responses to the texts they read, feeling confused about techniques and overwhelmed with possible meanings. These page templates (there are 14!) encourage and scaffold students to understand that their interpretations of texts are valid.
 
Teachers, simply insert the pages you want students to work on, add the text you want them to read (in the box provided), then send to students digitally or print to hand out. These are excellent for helping students with reading comprehension of 'unfamiliar' texts as well as for the targeted study of texts in class.  They're also great for giving students confidence to respond to texts as they might do for internal assessment pieces. They're perfect for use in class, homework or even class starters (eg, students could work on one page for ten minutes at the beginning of that week's lessons, then on Friday you could go over ideas together or students could submit to you).
 
Teacher instructions provided in the YouTube video are also provided in simple, easy-to-follow screen captured form with the resource. Templates include:
And then...and then... - Students mention what they thought when they first read the text, then what they decided next, then a changing opinion when they noticed a specific part, and finally what they realise.
Yeah. Nah - Students discuss what specific aspects of the text are similar to or the opposite of. For example real life events, places or people, somebody they know, another text.
Mood - There are even emojis provided for students to drag to specific parts of the text to help explain their reactions.
They'd probably say - Students discuss what people they know (family, friends) would say if they read the text.
At the time - Students first consider the political and social climate in which the text was written and what was happening in the writer's life at the time. They then annotate the text to show how parts of it reflect that era.
Opposites attract - Students identify juxtaposing/contrasting vocabulary/phrases or ideas.
What? Why? - Students imagine an ancestor or someone elderly they know wrote the text. They discuss what they learned about them through the text using the prompts provided.
Seriously, in this bit I... - Students annotate the text to show how it makes them feel on one side of the page and what they understand on the other side of the page.
Sounds Fiiiiiine - Students identify sound devices using the glossary provided to help them.
Imagine that! - Students identify figurative language using the glossary provided to help them.
I soooooo don't get it - Students are encouraged to throw caution to the wind and admit to the parts of the text they do not understand. They should be encouraged from there to make a guess as to what (at least some) aspects might mean.
Tone - As with the mood sheet, students can drag emojis around the text to show what they believe the author was feeling.
Spotlight on a Snippet - Here, a verse or paragraph only is placed in the centre of the page. Students annotate the text to label what they 'spot' such as specific techniques, interesting vocabulary etc. In the outer box, they discuss the 'so what?' and 'why?' - in other words the effect and purpose of the aspects they spotted. This is a good one to do after students have completed several of the other templates and have better confidence, although Year 13 students should be able to cope with this 'cold'!
Blank template - This page has space for teachers to insert text in the middle, then type in questions around the outer edges.
 
Enjoy!