Stop The Confusion: A Close and Cloze Mindset
What is Close Reading and Cloze Reading? They are two strategies that require the reader to make sense of the text. These kinds of reading strategies build comprehension, vocabulary development, and fluency. Do you remember Mad Libs? Mad Libs were learning games. You had to filled in a word that had been omitted from sentences in reading passages. You usually had to put in a word that was a part of speech like a noun, verb, adverb, or adjective. When completed and read aloud, Mad Lib stories were silly, funny, or humorous depending on what words you used to fill in the blanks to complete the sentences. Close or cloze reading both will help your students make meaning from the text. But how do you really know which one of these kinds of reading to introduce. Here are the meaning of close and cloze reading for you to decide.
1. Close Reading
Close reading is making meaning from text by looking at a passage and analyzing the sentences understand the passage. This type of reading skill build comprehension because students must ask question about the text in order to make sense of the passage.
• Close reading involves looking at the text to understand it.
• Looking at the text to make sense out of what is being read.
• Text comes from passages.
• Focuses on looking at the theme, main idea, or key details to make sense of the reading.
• Builds comprehension.
2. Cloze Reading
Cloze reading is making meaning from the text through trying to find out what word has been omitted from a sentence in the passage. Students make sense by trying to figure out what the missing word is by using the other words in the sentence. With cloze reading, there is the option of giving students a selection of words to choose from. Students learn that written words have meaning.
• Cloze reading involves looking at sentences in text to finding the missing word.
• Looking at other words in the sentence to find the missing word to complete the sentence.
• Text comes from sentences.
• Focus on looking at words to make sense of the sentence.
• Builds vocabulary.
Final Thoughts
There are many close and cloze activities for students. These activities build on comprehension, vocabulary development, and fluency skills.
They require the reader to use a think aloud strategy. There is no one way that is looked at as better than the other. Engaging students in making sense of text should involve them acting detective working to solve a great mystery.
Looking at a passage, sentences, and words to make meaning from the text is important in acquiring and strengthening these reading skills.
Tips To Try:
You can determine which approach to use by identifying your instructional goals for your students.
1. Identify Your Learning Objectives
- Close Reading for Deep Comprehension: If your goal is to enhance students’ deep comprehension, critical thinking, and analytical skills, close reading is ideal. This method involves students reading a text multiple times to dissect its structure, language, and meaning.
- Cloze Reading for Vocabulary and Context Clues: Use cloze reading when the objective is to improve vocabulary, context clue usage, and understanding of syntax. This technique involves students filling in the blanks in a passage, which helps them focus on word choice and context.
2. Consider the Text Complexity and Student Readiness
- Text Complexity: For complex texts that require careful analysis, close reading is more suitable. It allows students to break down difficult passages and explore deeper meanings.
- Student Readiness: Assess the readiness and skill level of your students. Close reading can be challenging and may be better suited for older or more advanced students. Cloze reading can be beneficial for younger students or those who need more support with language acquisition and reading fluency.
3. Match the Strategy to the Desired Skill Development
- Analytical Skills: If you want students to develop skills like making inferences, understanding themes, and identifying literary devices, close reading is the way to go. It encourages detailed examination and discussion.
- Language Skills: To focus on language development, such as vocabulary building, grammar, and understanding sentence structure, cloze reading is more appropriate. This method helps students practice using context clues to deduce the correct words and improve their overall language proficiency.