As we continue our journey through the school year, I want to take a moment to highlight a critical skill we are focusing on in the classroom: closely reading and analyzing text. This skill not only supports your child’s academic growth but also fosters essential life-long abilities such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication.

What is Close Reading?

Close reading is more than simply going over the words on a page. It involves careful attention to the meaning of a text, analyzing the author’s message, and understanding how specific language choices shape a reader's understanding. This method encourages students to delve deeper into the text, moving beyond surface-level comprehension to ask questions, make inferences, and uncover themes and patterns.

Why is it Important?

1. Critical Thinking: Close reading teaches students to think critically. By analyzing the author’s choices—such as the use of imagery, tone, and structure—students learn to evaluate information thoughtfully, consider multiple perspectives, and build reasoned arguments.

2. Better Understanding of Complex Texts: As students progress through middle school and beyond, they will encounter more challenging readings. Close reading prepares them to handle complex materials by equipping them with strategies to break down and comprehend difficult passages.

3. Building Stronger Vocabulary: While analyzing texts, students are exposed to richer, more varied vocabulary. Understanding words in context is key to expanding language skills, which in turn improves writing and speaking abilities.

4. Strengthening Communication Skills: Close reading helps students articulate their ideas more clearly, both in discussion and writing. Being able to reference the text, support their points with evidence, and present their views confidently are essential skills for academic success and beyond.

How Can You Support This at Home?

• Ask Questions: After your child finishes reading, ask them to explain what they’ve read. Encourage them to describe the plot, main ideas, and any connections they’ve noticed. This helps them practice summarizing and thinking more deeply about the text.

• Encourage Thoughtful Discussion: Challenge your child to think about why the author made certain choices. Questions like "Why do you think the character acted that way?" or "How does this part of the story make you feel, and why?" prompt your child to analyze text on a deeper level.

• Model Close Reading: Share the books or articles you are reading with your child and discuss them together. Demonstrating how you ask questions and analyze the text helps reinforce these skills in a natural, engaging way.

In Mrs. Rosenberger's 6th grade math class, students are exploring the world of statistics and decimals. During the statistics unit, students heard from the Mode Toads. This was an animated short video about how to find the Mean, Median, and Mode given a set of data. After learning about how to read, create, and analyze different types of graphs we jumped into decimal operations. We have been learning how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals and fractions. Students took a lot of pride in their work during this unit: they took their time, checked over their work, and tried their best. We had many students who were excited about their work and decided to hang it on ‘The Fridge.’  We can’t wait to see all the progress we’ll make during this decimals and fractions unit!