Close Reading with Paired Texts Level 4: Engaging Lessons to Improve Comprehension

Teach fourth grade students close reading strategies that strengthen their fluency and comprehension skills! Students will read and analyze various types of texts to get the most out of the rich content. Their reading skills will improve as they answer text-dependent questions, compare and contrast texts, and learn to use close reading strategies on their own! The lessons are designed to make close reading strategies accessible, interactive, grade appropriate, and fun. The lesson plans are easy to follow, and offer a practical model built on research-based comprehension and fluency strategies.

Lori Oczkus, M.A., is an accomplished educator, author, and speaker. She has experience working as a bilingual elementary teacher, reading intervention specialist, sta developer, and literacy coach. Lori has inspired many teachers through her motivating workshops and best-selling books. She frequently spends time in classrooms and focuses on helping teachers refine their reading instruction. Lori has been inducted in the California Reading Association Hall of Fame for her many contributions to the field of reading. She has authored several books including Best Ever Literacy Survival Tips: 25 Lessons You Can't Teach Without! and Guided Writing: Practical Lessons, Powerful Results.

Dr. Timothy Rasinski is a professor emeritus of literary education at Kent State University and was previously director of its award-winning reading clinic. Dr. Rasinski is the author of numerous best-selling books, articles, and curriculum programs on literacy education and has co-authored many resources for Shell Education including, but not limited to, Greek & Latin Roots: Keys to Building Vocabulary, Starting with Prefixes and Suffixes, Practice with Prefixes, Vocabulary Ladders: Understanding Word Nuances series, Getting to the Roots of Content-Area Vocabulary series, Idioms and Other English Expressions series, Close Reading with Paired Texts series, Rhymes for the Times: Literacy Strategies through Social Studies, as well as TCM’s curriculum resource Building Vocabulary series.

Dr. Rasinski is a frequent, well-known presenter nationwide and in 2021, 2023, and 2026 was named one of the top 2% most-citied scientists in the world. His scholarly interests include reading fluency, word study, reading in the elementary and middle grades, and readers who struggle. Dr. Rasinski served a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association and was co-editor of The Reading Teacher, the world’s most widely read journal of literacy education. He has also served as co-editor of the Journal of Literacy Research. Dr. Rasinski is a former president of the College Reading Association and has won the A. B. Herr and Laureate Awards from the College Reading Association for his scholarly contributions to literacy education. In 2010, Dr. Rasinski was elected to the International Reading Hall of Fame, and in 2019 Dr. Rasinski was recipient of the International Literacy Association’s highest honor―the William S. Gray Citation of Merit―for his contributions to the field of literacy.

Visit Dr. Rasinski's website: www.timrasinski.com