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We Do · You practice it together

Shared Close Reading

Shared Close Reading takes the class through a parallel passage together, paragraph by paragraph, with the teacher posing questions and students answering in guided notes. TeacherHero uses it as a We Do when a lesson pairs two texts, so the connection between them is built in shared steps before students attempt it alone.

Conduct a teacher-guided close read of a parallel passage.

Real generated output

We Do: Connect Fear to Ada’s Choice

The We Do phase of a Grade 6 ELA lesson, as TeacherHero generated it. Planned for 9 minutes.

  1. Teacher directions

    • 0:00–1:00 — Ask students to open their Two-Text Connection Guided Notes and point to the Story explanation and Connection slots.
    • 1:00–2:30 — Read Paragraph 1 of the article aloud, then ask students to answer the first question with the sentence frame.
    • 2:30–4:00 — Read Paragraph 2 and ask partners to explain how fear changes the choices people notice.
    • 4:00–5:30 — Read Paragraph 3 and ask students to connect the article’s explanation of courage to Ada’s decision.
    • 5:30–7:30 — Read Paragraphs 4–5 of the story and ask students to select evidence showing Ada acts while fear remains present.
    • 7:30–9:00 — Have students complete the final connection independently, then check for two complete quotations and one shared conclusion.

  2. Student directions

    • Open your Two-Text Connection Guided Notes and find the Story explanation and Connection slots.
    • Close Read the new paragraphs, answer each question, and use complete evidence from both texts.
    • Use this frame when you explain a connection: Since ___, I think ___ because ___.

  3. Questions to ask

    • What does fear do to attention when people believe they are in danger?
    • How does the article explain the problem with narrowed attention during a difficult decision?
    • What does the article say courage requires when fear is still present?
    • How does Ada’s obligation to Tomas connect to the article’s explanation of courage?
    • Which complete quotation from the story best shows Ada acting while fear remains present?

  4. Misconceptions to expect

    • Students may claim that courage means fear disappears, but the article says courage can happen while fear remains present.
    • Students may describe Ada’s obligation as a simple promise without explaining how it gives her another option.
    • Students may copy a quotation without explaining how the evidence connects the story and article.
    • Students may use the word falter only as a definition instead of explaining what Ada’s action reveals.
Why the coach chose it here — Shared Close Reading fits the lesson target because students connect a new article explanation to Ada’s decision through guided evidence work. It continues the I Do model with a parallel two-text example, uses pretesting before teacher confirmation, and fades from teacher prompts toward student-generated connections. The sequence also prepares students for the final paragraph by requiring complete quotations, explanation, and a link between texts.

Frequently asked questions

What is a parallel passage?

A second text on the same idea as the main one. In the example it is a short nonfiction article about what fear does to attention, read alongside a short story about a character acting under pressure. The close read is how students learn to connect the two.

How do guided notes fit in?

They hold the slots students fill as the reading proceeds — an explanation from the story, a connection to the article — with a sentence frame for the connection. The teacher reads a paragraph, asks its question, and students write before moving on to the next.

Which misconceptions does it address?

That courage means fear disappears, that a character's duty is just a promise without consequence, and that copying a long quotation counts as explaining it. Each is named in the example so the teacher can listen for it during the reading rather than discover it in the writing.

Strategies that pair with it

First Chart Row

We Do · Complete the first row of an organizer together.

See the example

Guided Practice

We Do · Complete a parallel task with decreasing teacher support.

See the example

Hinge Questions

We Do · Pause at key decisions to check the whole class.

See the example

Revise a Weak Example

We Do · Improve a weak response through guided revision.

See the example
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