Close reading is big right now. I've been doing close reading with my kids since last year and my kids have started to think of it as work. They are right...it is work. But it shouldn't necessarily feel like it. I want them to be excited about digging deep into a piece of text! I set out to create a fun way to spice up close reading, thus these close reading tool kits were born:


When we start to dissect a piece of text, I have one of my kids pass out the toolkits and everyone begins to unpack their kit. Here's what's included in mine: 


-a pack of sticky notes
-a highlight with 3 colors. A parent donated these fun triangle highlighters, but if you don't have these, just include three different colors
- an evidence bookmark. These come in handy when citing evidence after reading You can find the bookmarks in my Comp Files unit. 
- a close reading symbols card for the kids to refer to.  There are tons out there that you can decide which works best for your students. This is the one we are currently using but I do change them for time to time depending on what type of passage we are working with. 
- a pen. Most teachers would prefer pencils and understandably so, but there's something about a pen that makes it just a little more fun for the kids. Whatever works, right?

I plan on posting later this week on how we use these supplies to actually close read a piece of text, so check back!

If you're interested in these printables, let me know and I'll upload them! :) 

UPDATE: 2/21- These printables are now uploaded. You can find them here