Middle school students' ability to think critically and comprehend complex text is often challenging. Students often need additional academic support in this area. Close reading text is an instructional strategy that involves analyzing and looking at a text critically. The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study is to examine English language art middle school teachers' experiences with and perceptions of the implementation of close reading strategies to teach critical thinking skills. To guide this inquiry the theoretical framework of Elder and Paul's (1996) stages of critical thinking was utilized. Ten middle school ELA teachers participated in this study. Through semi structured interviews the data was collected. The data were coded, grouped into categories, broken into themes, and represented visually. Prominent themes of background knowledge, deeper meaning and making connections were identified. The participants in this study recognized that background knowledge plays an important part in both close reading instruction and critical thinking. It was also acknowledged that students were able to find the deep meaning in complex text and made connections through their own reflections during close reading instruction. These are key components to Elder and Paul's (1996) stages of critical thinking. This study adds to the literature focusing on teaching critical thinking skills as well as the implementation of close reading instructional strategies in the classroom. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]