Close Reading and Volume Reading: What are the Differences?

As we wind down here at East in anticipation of a nice, long winter break, some of us are beginning to think about all the reading we hope to do over the break. Perhaps it's a mix of reading student work and pleasure reading, but we will be reading nonetheless. While doing your own reading, you might be engaging in volume reading, which has tons of rewards and benefits! Within that volume reading there might also be some close reading, where you really zero in on certain passages, phrases, etc. You may even reread some of them simply to revisit the language or to gain a deeper meaning. With that in mind, we can think about how these two types of reading apply to our students and what they look like in practice. See the handy chart below!

Close Reading	Volume Reading
-Solely instructional in purpose	-Rapidly builds knowledge and vocabulary
-Heavy support from teacher and/or cooperative learning	-Little teacher support
-Few pages	-Varying degrees of complexity
-Grade level complex/appropriate	-Builds more of a love of reading
-Builds reading skill and fluency	-More pages
-Targeted vocabulary support/instruction	-Reserved for guiding or independent reading

As you see, there are differences in terms of the use of both of these. Both can be appropriate and useful for students, but close reading can be extremely valuable when considering building students reading comprehension skills and their ability to paraphrase, summarize, and reflect on their own understanding of what they read. Close reading is a skill that can be very beneficial for students in terms of gauging their own understanding.

On a surface level, close reading involves these steps:
1. Briefly introducing the text (historical context, author, background info, etc.)
2. Read the text (a paragraph, a page, some short text) aloud to the students with them following along. Target specific vocab as needed/wanted.
3. Students reread the text on their own or with a partner and summarize.
4. Teacher has students respond to a series of text-dependent questions for discussion or to use in responding to a writing prompt.

There are many ways to do close reading and ways to support students as they wrestle with a text, and in the new year be sure to look for some tips on these, as well as a possible professional development opportunity!

Best wishes for a restful break and a happy new year!!