Beers & Probst Notice & Note: Strategies For Close Reading

Last updated: September 13, 2021

Beers & Probst Notice & Note: Strategies For Close Reading

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We looked at the top Reading & Literacy Textbooks and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Reading & Literacy Textbook you should buy.

Overall Take

If you want to develop your close reading habits, it’s important to learn the strategies behind it. This book will help you become more observant, responsive and analytical when reading.

In our analysis of 10 expert reviews, the Beers & Probst Notice & Note: Strategies For Close Reading placed 1st when we looked at the top 4 products in the category. For the full ranking, see below.

From The Manufacturer

In Notice and Note Kylene Beers and Bob Probst introduce 6 “signposts” that alert readers to significant moments in a work of literature and encourage students to read closely. Learning first to spot these signposts and then to question them, enables readers to explore the text, any text, finding evidence to support their interpretations. In short, these close reading strategies will help your students to notice and note. In this timely and practical guide Kylene and Bob: Examine the new emphasis on text-dependent questions, rigor, text complexity, and what it means to be literate in the 21st century. Identify 6 signposts that help readers understand and respond to character development, conflict, point of view, and theme. Provide 6 text-dependent anchor questions that help readers take note and read more closely. Offer 6 Notice and Note model lessons, including text selections and teaching tools, that help you introduce each signpost to your students. Notice and Note will help create attentive readers who look closely at a text, interpret it responsibly, and reflect on what it means in their lives. It should help them become the responsive, rigorous, independent readers we not only want students to be but know our democracy demands.

Expert Reviews


What experts liked

Utilizing the signposts described in Notice and Note is having a huge impact on my students' ability to analyze literature and fully understand author's craft in terms of character development.
Solid theory supporting practical application — that’s the foundation undergirding the six “signposts” the authors use to point the way to strengthen readers of all levels.
Originally I assumed this book would be just another book about how to improve comprehension, but I discovered that it is so much more. It's about how to foster a love of reading and how to help students gain a deeper understanding and make deeper connections with the text.
- Smore
Notice and Note is geared toward teachers of students from fourth to tenth grade, but any reader (even the most emergent) can enjoy literature more by pondering the questions and noticing the sign posts as they experience literature.

What experts didn't like

This book was not as helpful as I would have hoped. I felt like many of the strategies were fairly obvious if you've been teaching for awhile and I mostly skimmed a great deal. For example, there is a chapter on the benefit of discussion in the classroom. Great, but I already do that quite extensively.

Overview

When it comes to reading and literacy, learning is a lifelong endeavor. From young children to highly educated adults, there is always something new to explore around language, grammar, syntax, writing and storytelling.

If you’re looking for reading and literacy textbooks for your kids, start by searching for books that are level-appropriate. You don’t necessarily have to buy a textbook that is specific to the age of your child or their grade. Instead, look at your child’s reading and literacy level and buy a book that will help them learn, provide them with confidence and challenge their minds.

Another important factor to consider — especially for reading and literacy textbooks that are for high school or college — is that you have the right edition of the book. Many reading and literacy textbooks are updated and reprinted every few years. For the classics, there may be several different editions.

One of the main reasons for getting the edition that is recommended by your educator is so that you or your child can follow along with the page numbers and material that is on the syllabus. Often, as the material changes from edition to edition, page numbers also change, meaning that what is on page 100 in one edition may be on a different page in another edition.

Buying Advice

  • If your reading and literacy textbook isn’t required or recommended for your education and you are getting it as an extra resource to help with learning, you can use any recent edition of the book instead of having to get a specific edition.
  • In order to improve reading comprehension for kids of any age, be sure to make reading an interactive activity. For example, instead of just reading to them or having them read the book, ask them questions about what they are reading after every chapter or section. Ask about which characters the book is focusing on, what those characters are doing and feeling, or where the book is taking place. This is also a good exercise to do for yourself if you want to improve reading comprehension.
  • Textbooks on reading and literacy are great resources to have at your fingertips. Be sure to keep them handy at your workspace so you can easily access them whenever you have a question.