Close reading – Provide a handout to students with quotes from class texts that you want them to consider in class. Show them how you might read and value different ideas in the text through a think-aloud. This step is usually discipline-specific so think about offering students a window into how someone in your discipline reads and critically analyzes texts. Then, have students do a close reading themselves by marking up a piece of text. Once they have processed their own ideas, encourage them to talk to one another about what they saw in the text and share their ideas with the class.
Professors who do close reading:
Found poem – Using the text, students pick out key words and phrases and create a short poem. You can do this in any discipline (not just English). Click here for more information on found poetry.
Student generated questions – Have students use a taxonomy to create questions from lecture or class texts. You can collect these questions and use them in class to generate discussion or to create assessments.