Text-Dependent Analysis Seminar Hosted by SVRC

By Kay Poeth, Publicity Chairperson of SVRC

“Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA) is about preparing our students to read closely, think deeply
and write purposefully,” stated Christine Mitcheltree at the start of the education seminar on
TDA and Close Reading. “We need to raise the level of thinking on both informational text and
literature.”
Mitcheltree further noted that it is an instructional shift not just one that focuses on assessment.
It involves using text evidence to support ideas, an increased vocabulary, and higher level
thinking skills. TDA assesses reading comprehension, analysis skills, and written responses.
Students read the text material closely, provide evidence from the text and draw inferences based
on the text, and demonstrate analysis of the text through a well-written essay.
Co-presenter Mandy Stoudt explained that close reading is a careful and purposeful rereading
of the text. Stoudt encouraged teachers to scaffold questions to strategically guide students
through tricky and challenging aspects of the text. TDA questions help students with the key
understandings and big ideas in the text and can focus on theme, characters, important events,
important ideas, author’s purpose or text structure.
The presenters also discussed the use of annotation or note-taking to slow the reader down in
order to deepen understanding. Stoudt compared annotation to “reading with a pencil.”
The hour-long session, Text-Dependent Analysis & Close Reading, held on January 25, 2018
was hosted by the Susquehanna Valley Reading Council (SVRC. Mandy Stoudt, a instructional
coach at Milton School District and Christine Mitcheltree, a Curriculum & Instruction Support
Specialist at the CSIU, were the co-presenters. Approximately, 35 educators, college students,
and administrators attended this informative presentation. For the past several years, the January
meeting hosted by SVRC has featured Hot Topics in the educational field.
For more information on the Susquehanna Valley Reading Council, contact Membership Chair
Marcy Slaton at savethemanattee@hotmail.com. Or visit the Susquehanna Valley Reading
Council’s website at SVRCouncil.weebly.com and Susquehanna Valley Reading Council
Facebook page. The next meeting will be the Celebrate Literacy Award Banquet held at the
Country Cupboard Restaurant in Lewisburg on April 5 beginning at 5:00 pm.

Caption:
The Susquehanna Valley Reading Council (SVRC) hosted an informative session on Text-
Dependent Analysis & Close Reading. Presenter Christine Mitcheltree, a Curriculum &
Instruction Support Specialist at CSIU #16, discusses TDA with Midd-West teacher Brittany
Folk while SVRC Co-President Janice Adair, co-presenter Mandy Stoudt, literacy coach at
Milton School District, and Midd-West teacher Tammy Dietz join in the conversation.