Common Core Focus on the Text

The current issue of AFT's American Educator contains this interesting piece on close reads.  While the author acknowledges the importance of prior knowledge in the comprehension of a text, he cautions teachers to be selective in their pre-reading practices.  Additionally, he points out the inherent hazards of  blindly following the Common Core push for asking text-dependent questions.  Are the text-dependent questions that we are asking worthwhile?  Are they promoting higher level thinking according to Bloom's Taxonomy?  For that matter, are the texts themselves worthy of exploration in the classroom? 

Happy reading,
Christine