Read the Lines, Between the Lines: Close Reading Macbeth on iPad

Overview

In an age where students are reading more but comprehending less, explicitly teaching close reading is more important than ever. This post shares a close reading approach adapted from the Harvard ClassicsWrite framework, applied to a high school literature classroom. Using two built-in iPad apps — Books and Pages — it offers practical strategies organized around two goals: helping students commit to reading and helping them analyze and interpret the reading.  

Context

Modern literature classes often have students read about a text instead of through it. To break this pattern, we must give learners the space to actively explore the text and uncover meaning for themselves. This crucial shift begins with close reading.

This technique requires carefully analyzing a text to understand what it means, what it suggests, and how it connects to the larger work. Research shows this practice sharpens comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking. In this era of information explosion, these are essential, future-ready skills.

Yet, close reading is rarely taught explicitly. This post is an attempt to change that, with the dynamic ways of annotating in Books and note-taking in Pages.

What This Looks Like in Practice

The workflow is organized around two goals: helping students commit to reading and helping them analyze and interpret the text.

Goal 1: Committing to reading using the Books app 

Before students can read closely, they need to actually read. Here's how Books supports that:

Set a reading goal. In Books, tap the person icon at the top right, then tap Reading Goals to set a daily reading target. Even 10–15 minutes a day builds the habit of sustained, focused reading. 

Adjust the reading interface. Tap the menu button, then tap Themes & Settings to customize font size, font style, brightness, line spacing, and page theme. Students can set up a reading environment that works for them. 

Note: Interface customization applies to EPUB files. PDFs and fixed-layout books have limited or no access to these settings. Vertical scrolling can be toggled for PDFs, but font and theme controls may not be available.

For students who need extra focus support

Some students benefit from a bit more structure to help them stay in a reading task. These built-in iPad tools can provide that support without adding complexity to your classroom setup:

• Guided Access (Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access) locks students into the Books app during reading time. Learn more
• Lock in App via Apple Classroom pushes Books to all student devices and keeps students on task. Learn more

Goal 2: Analyzing and interpreting the reading using Pages app 

Close reading is not a single pass through a text but a process of reading for meaning, from form, to context, then implication. This post uses the Harvard ClassicsWrite Close Reading Framework as the pedagogical anchor for that process: a structured, teachable approach that guides students from literal comprehension toward deeper literary analysis.

Pages is where that process becomes visible, and Split View makes it seamless: Books on one side with the passage, Pages on the other with the worksheet. Students read, respond, re-read, and revise — definitely high screen value.

To open Books and Pages in Split View:

First, ensure Split View is enabled: go to Settings → Multitasking & Gestures → Windowed Apps.

Then:

1. Open Books and navigate to the passage

2. Swipe down from the top of the Books window to reveal the traffic light menu (red, yellow, green buttons)

3. Tap and hold the green button → select the left or right half of the screen under Move & Resize

4. Open Pages from your Home Screen or Dock — drag and drop it to the opposite side until the arrow icon appears, then release

Note: Guided Access and Lock in app features are not supported in Split Screen view.

Try It With Any Text

The iPad workflow and the Harvard ClassicsWrite Close Reading Framework is not exclusive to reading Shakespeare. The same approach applies to any text or content your students encounter:

• A chapter in Noli Me Tangere for Filipino
• A primary source document in Social Studies
• A scientific publication in Science
• A news or editorial piece in English
• Any social media or digital content online

Read, Reflect, Share

How do your students read? Not just how often, but how deeply, how deliberately, and how willingly do they sit with a content and process it?

That's the question this post is really about. Close reading is less a strategy than a habit of mind — and like any habit, it needs to be explicitly taught, regularly practiced, and occasionally modeled by the teacher who still finds it challenging, too.

If you've tried using Books or Pages for close reading in your classroom — whether it's a literary text or any other text — share what worked, what surprised you, and what you'd do differently. And if you're just getting started, drop a question in the comments. We're all still figuring this out together!

Attachments

Close Reading Worksheet.pages

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