Critical Reading Strategies

Six Strategies that Will Help You Understand and Respond to Any Text Visualize Ideas Summarize Ideas Clarify Information Make Connections Respond to Ideas Ask Questions

First Read Before reading, number the paragraphs Underline ideas or phrases that seem particularly important Circle any words you don’t understand Put a question mark by any passages that are confusing Put an exclamation point next to anything that surprises you

Visualizing Ideas Draw images or create diagrams that show ideas or relationships Guiding Questions What does the author want me to understand? What is the author saying? What does the author want me to see? How can I draw this concept or idea? What visual and/or symbol best represents this concept or idea? Try this with your partner(s) – come up with at least one symbol or diagrams

Summarizing Ideas Pick out the most important information Use journalistic questions – who, what , when, where, why and how Include the author’s thesis or theme if there is one, then give supporting information With your partner, write a summary of one paragraph on your page. Give the paragraph number.

Clarifying Ideas Look at your circled words and question marks Define any words you don’t understand See if you can connect ideas you don’t understand to other ideas in the text Ask clarifying questions such as “What does this mean?” or “Why is this important?” Try to paraphrase the confusing ideas to help you answer your question Write one clarifying question in the margin of your page, then attempt to answer it.

Making Connections Ask yourself  What do I know about subject?  What is my experience with topic/idea?  What do I believe?  Where have I heard or read this idea before?  How does this idea relate to other ideas in the text?  How does this relate to the world? Make 2 connections on your page

Respond to Ideas Students should write responses to: 1. Interesting ideas; 2. Familiar experiences; 3. Emotional arguments; 4. Provocative statements; 5. Author’s claims; and 6. Facts, data, and other support. Write 2 responses on your page

Ask Questions What is the author saying here? 2. What is the author doing? 3. What do I understand so far? 4. What is important about this paragraph/section? 5. What is the purpose of this section? 6. Do I agree/disagree with what the author is saying? Write 2 questions on your page