Opening the Door to Analysis: Giving Students New Ways to Read Deeply
Reading time
Date posted
By Holly Durham, author of Patterns of Analysis
Walk into almost any middle or high school classroom, and you’ll see it: students bent over their desks, staring at a text and waiting for the “right” answer to just emerge. When it’s time to analyze, many struggle to know where to begin. They highlight everything, or nothing. They give surface-level responses. And when it’s time to write, that uncertainty shows up on the page.
We want those moments when students look up with that unmistakable spark in their eyes – the “I get it” lightbulb that makes everything worth it.
But if we’re honest, helping students read and write analytically – independently and with confidence – often feels like one of the steepest hills we climb. Between shifting standards, changing technology, and mounting instructional demands, even our best efforts can start to feel like a game of instructional whack-a-mole.
That tension – between our vision for student thinking and the realities of the classroom – is the spark that led me to start approaching analysis differently.
The Problem Isn’t Student Ability — It’s How They Enter the Text
For years, I watched thoughtful, engaged learners retreat into confusion the moment I asked them to analyze a text. It wasn’t because they couldn’t think analytically – they could. But the way we typically ask students to enter a text is abstract and vague: “What’s the theme?” “Analyze the author’s tone.” “Explain the purpose.” While these seem quite concrete to an English teacher, these concepts, at the very least, are multifaceted. Where we may embrace ambiguity, many students find that it shuts them down.
Without a concrete place to begin, many students froze. Others resorted to plug-and-chug essay frames. And because those frames were often built to meet rubric checkboxes, not to spark authentic thinking, the writing felt forced. Their words flattened – not because they didn’t care, but because the process didn’t invite their voices in.
That’s why I developed a new process. It’s not a new formula – it is an integration of many things we do in silos. It’s a way to give students solid footing without boxing them in.
A Practical Entry Point: Grammar as Gateway to Analysis
As I stated above, we introduce students to analysis at the abstract level: tone, theme, purpose. But those are the destination – not the path. What if we instead invite students in through the words?
Patterns of Analysis flips the typical sequence. Students don’t begin by trying to label “theme” or “tone.” They start by noticing conventions authors use – things like active verbs, punctuation choices, or rhetorical devices. These become entry points into the text, tangible and approachable.
From there, they move through a predictable, scaffolded cycle:
• Read (and reread) to set a lens.
• Question a single convention’s use.
• Connect their observations through structured discourse.
• Explain their thinking in writing.
• Communicate to refine and share.
This shifts their initial energy away from guessing at theme or purpose and toward noticing how the text works, rereading with a specific lens, and asking thoughtful questions about the author’s choices. Writing emerges later, after rich reading and discussion, as a way to crystallize their thinking.
Imagine a seventh-grade classroom midway through a unit on point of view leading to theme. Students are reading an excerpt from The Giver. Instead of starting with a big question—“What’s the author’s message?” or “How is Jonas characterized?” – they begin with something smaller and more visible: the verbs.
Together, the class Reads (and Rereads) a short paragraph where Jonas begins to see color for the first time. They notice what stands out, then zoom in on Lois Lowry’s use of active verbs like glanced, blinked, and stared.
Next, they Question that single convention.
Why these verbs? What’s different about them? What do they show us about Jonas’s experience?
Some notice how the repeated physical actions make the moment feel tense; others suggest that the verbs slow down the pacing, mirroring Jonas’s confusion and wonder.
Next, they Connect their reading and observations about verbs to other genre specific concepts – character, theme, setting, etc. Students go through guided discourse and expand their understanding by the use of speaking stems tied directly to the passage.
They then Explain their thinking by using a stem or idea from their Invitation to Connect and establish text evidence that supports their thinking.
Finally, they Communicate their ideas by ensuring they have used thoughtful verbs in their theme statements and in the text explaining their thinking. then pair up to share and refine their statements
Students leave the lesson having practiced close reading, analysis, and discussion through a concrete lens they can reuse the next day, whether they’re reading anything from The Giver, to an editorial, or even a poem.
When I piloted this process, I started to notice a shift. Students who had once dreaded analysis were leaning in, asking sharper questions, and engaging with texts they used to skim past. Because we began with what authors actually do – real, concrete language moves – students felt more confident joining the conversation.
As one student explained, “It’s not like I suddenly know everything – it’s just so much easier to start now.” That’s exactly the point.
Why This Matters Now
We live in an age of shortcut summaries and AI-generated responses. Students know this. Many are savvy enough to produce the bare minimum “analysis” by following rigid frames or, worse, outsourcing their thinking entirely.
But authentic analytical reading and writing – the kind students need for college, careers, and citizenship – can’t be automated. Whether students are deciphering a poem, a political argument, or the fine print in a contract, their ability to notice patterns, make sense of structure, and question authorial choices is what truly prepares them for the world ahead.
ThePatterns of Analysis process gives teachers a practical way to teach those skills without piling on more programs or acronyms. Once you learn the structure, it’s flexible and portable – you can use it with any text, in any content area, at any grade level.
An Invitation
The Patterns of Analysis process isn’t about forcing students to follow another set of steps. It’s about giving them permission to think – and the tools to do it well while supporting your instruction with clarity, coherence, and flexibility, helping teachers build transferable habits into students’ analysis efforts, and offering coaches and leaders a way to scaffold consistency across classrooms.
If this resonates, you can dig deeper with my new book, Patterns of Analysis: Connecting the Conventions of Grammar to Analytical Reading and Writing. This book isn’t just a collection of 24 demonstration lessons across grades 6–12 (though you’ll find plenty of those). It’s also a planning framework designed for classroom teachers, instructional coaches, and leaders who want a clear, replicable way to help students think analytically.
Because the structure is consistent, it supports vertical alignment. A student who starts in middle school analyzing verbs in nonfiction can, years later, approach far more complex rhetorical texts with the same process.
This book is designed to function as a fully independent resource, but if you are already using Patterns of Power, there are clear and natural bridges between the two approaches.
Let’s help students rediscover authentic ways to enter and engage with texts, so their analytical reading naturally gives rise to thoughtful, purposeful writing.
About the author
Holly Durham has spent over thirty years in education, serving as an English teacher, instructional coach, content director, and strategic planning leader. With expertise in literacy, leadership, and instructional design, she has helped shape curriculum and professional development for educators nationwide. Holly is the co-author of Patterns of Power: Teaching Grammar Through Reading and Writing, Grades 9–12.
Patterns of Analysis: Connecting the Conventions of Grammar to Analytical Reading and Writing
Grounded in the pursuit of humanizing schools and classrooms where children experience agency and joy, Mari Dean examines both the classroom management practices we must disrupt and those we must work towards to create these places in our own classrooms.