Close Reading in Math for Upper Elementary

Close reading is all the rage in ELA classrooms, but it can definitely work in math, too. Students often struggle with word problems because they don’t fully understand what the problem is telling them or asking them to do. By using close reading in math, you can help eliminate some of this struggle. Keep reading to read how I implement close reading with tricky word problems and grab the free printables to implement this in your classroom.

$Close reading in math can be used to help students with tricky word problems, constructed response math tasks, or multi-part problems. Read more and grab some free close reading printables for math on this post.$

Close Reading in Math Steps

Here are the steps I use:

1st Read – Get the gist of what is happening so that you can retell it.
2nd Read – What is the problem asking you?
3rd Read – What operation matches the situation in the problem?
4th Read – After determining your answer, reread the problem to make sure that your answer makes sense.

I definitely don’t require my students to do this for every word problem, just like we don’t close read every text. Here is how I use close reading in math:

In the beginning of the year, I tell them which word problems to close read. I choose multi-step ones or ones that I know they will not have strong background knowledge of.
After a few months of successful close reading of problems I choose, most students are ready to self-select the problems they need to close read based on their initial read of the word problem.

Close Reading in Math Free Printables

The FREE download includes:

All steps on one page poster
Each step on a separate page (two versions: one with guiding questions and one without)
Bookmarks with all the steps
An interactive notebook template to have the students record the steps for each close read — use this if you want to edit the steps and have the students write it themselves in their math notebook.