9.2.1 Critical/Close Reading Notes, Quizzes & Revision
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9.2 Reading — 9.2.1 Critical / Close Reading (Age 15)
Short, clear notes and activities to teach close reading (critical reading) of short texts. Focus is on repeated reading, making notes, analysing audience/purpose/attitude, and using grammar to infer meaning of phrasal verbs, idioms, proverbs and binomial expressions.
Specific learning outcomes (what the learner should be able to do)
- a) Read a short text several times to gain deeper understanding; analyse audience, purpose and attitude.
- b) Take short notes by annotating margins, notebook or a device.
- c) Examine structure and form of a short text; infer meanings of grade-appropriate transparent phrasal verbs and binomial expressions using context clues.
- d) Recognise the importance of close reading for understanding meaning beyond the surface.
- e) Identify repeated reading, note-making, interpreting text (purpose, audience, attitude) and use of phrasal verbs, idioms/proverbs and binomial expressions as key parts of close reading.
What is close (critical) reading?
Close reading = reading a short text more than once, looking carefully at words, grammar and structure to discover purpose, audience and attitude. It uses annotation, note-making and grammar knowledge (e.g., phrasal verbs, binomials) to interpret meaning.
Three useful passes (how to read a short text deeply)
- Pass 1 — Gist: Read quickly for main idea (who, what, where, when).
- Pass 2 — Details & language: Read again and mark unusual words, phrasal verbs, idioms and repeated phrases; note structure (opening, body, closing).
- Pass 3 — Interpretation: Ask: Who is the audience? What is the writer’s purpose? What attitude or tone is shown? Use grammar and context to infer meanings.
Annotation guide (quick symbols to use)
Use quick marks in the margin or on your device:
- ? = I don’t understand / check meaning
- ! = strong idea / main point
- * = theme or important word
- → = inference / implied meaning
- Underline key verbs, circle phrasal verbs, box binomials/idioms
Short classroom text (practice) — annotate and analyse
Read the short paragraph below three times and do the tasks that follow.
On Saturday, Amina and her classmates took part in a tree-planting day near the market. They set up a stall, handed out water and cleaned up the area. The teacher told them to look after the seedlings and to come back next week. Young and old joined in — the event was a clear sign of community spirit.
Tasks (do these after three readings)
- Gist: Summarise the paragraph in one sentence.
- Annotate: Mark phrasal verbs and binomial expressions (+ one note on audience, purpose and attitude).
- Grammar inference: For each highlighted phrasal verb, write one sentence explaining how context shows its meaning.
- Note-making: Write 5 short margin notes (bullet points) showing what you learned from the paragraph.
How to infer phrasal verbs & binomial meanings using grammar and context
- Phrasal verbs (verb + particle): Look at the surrounding verbs and objects. If the text shows someone giving water to many people, "handed out" = "gave to many." Often the object (water) helps confirm meaning.
- Separable vs inseparable: If object can come between verb and particle (e.g., "set up a stall" / "set the stall up"), the phrasal verb is separable. Try moving the noun to test natural order.
- Binomial expressions: Two words joined by and/or (e.g., "young and old"). They often show a broad group or balance. Word order is usually fixed; grammar and context show the idea (both groups joined).
- Use surrounding verbs, subjects and time words: Words like "told them to" + infinitive show instruction; attitude (positive/neutral/critical) comes from adjectives and verbs.
Example analysis (model answers)
Gist: Amina and classmates helped plant trees and look after seedlings in a community activity.
Audience: Local community, school students and teachers (implied by details: "classmates", "teacher").
Purpose: To inform readers about the event and to show community spirit.
Attitude: Positive — words like "joined in" and "community spirit" suggest approval.
Grammar inferences (examples):
- "set up" — context: they “set up a stall” → means “arranged or put in place” (separable: "set the stall up" also possible).
- "handed out" — context: they handed out water → means “distributed / gave to people.”
- "cleaned up" — context: they cleaned up the area → means “made the area tidy.”
- "look after" — teacher told them to look after seedlings → means “care for / protect.”
- "come back" — context: come back next week → means “return later.”
- "young and old" — binomial showing two groups; means people of all ages participated.
Suggested classroom activities (Kenyan context, age 15)
-
Newspaper close-read (pair activity, 25–30 minutes):
- Use a short local news paragraph (Daily Nation / Standard excerpt or school bulletin).
- Students do 3 passes, annotate phrasal verbs, binomials and tone, then discuss in pairs: who is audience? what is purpose? what attitude?
-
Phrasal verb detective (15 minutes):
- Give 8 phrasal verbs from texts (set up, hand out, call off, look after, come across, give up, pick up, clean up).
- Students use sentence context to infer meaning and then replace each with a single-word synonym where possible.
-
Binomial & proverb hunt (15 minutes):
- Collect examples from local songs, speeches or school notices (e.g., "young and old", "trial and error", proverbs like "Haba na haba hujaza kibaba").
- Discuss fixed order, meaning and why author used them (effect on tone/audience).
-
Note-making assessment (homework):
- Read a short 8–10 sentence passage, annotate and submit 8 margin notes plus a 1-paragraph interpretation (audience, purpose, attitude) and list of phrasal verbs with inferred meanings.
Assessment checklist (for the teacher)
- Did the learner read the text multiple times and improve answers across readings?
- Are margin notes clear and relevant (definition, inference, questions)?
- Can the learner identify phrasal verbs and binomials and explain meaning using context?
- Can the learner state audience, purpose and attitude with evidence from the text?
Teacher tips & resources
- Use short local texts (school notices, community articles) so students relate to content.
- Model annotations on the board before asking students to do theirs.
- Encourage digital notes (highlight + comment) if devices are available; otherwise use margin codes.
- Differentiate: give simpler texts and guided questions to weaker readers; give unseen short editorials to stronger groups.
- Timing suggestion: one lesson for modelling and pair work; one lesson for practice and assessment.
These notes focus on grammatical and lexical features (phrasal verbs, binomials, structure) as key tools in close reading for English learners aged 15 in Kenya.