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CCSS Language 9 says, "Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches that authors take." Comparing complex text is the highest form of analyzing a text. It is what we call synthesizing texts and information found within that text. In order to teach my students to analyze a complex text, we must first chunk and scaffold the text for them. I learned the hard way why this is so important for struggling readers. My 7th and 8th graders were reading the short story "A Crush" by Cynthia Rylant. The basic plot is a mentally challenged 33-year-old man has fallen in love with Dolores, a local hardware store worker whom he's never met. The problem with my students' misunderstanding stemmed from the fact that the story begins at the end--with everyone in town wondering why Dolores, of all the women in town, was getting flowers from a secret admirer. My students couldn't understand the...