1. Critical Thinking - Reading

2. Preliminary Exercise
Get with a partner, take out a sheet of paper, discuss & answer the following:
Pretend that you have been assigned the task of conducting a tour for aliens who are visiting earth and observing human life. You are riding along in a blimp, and you float over a professional baseball stadium. One of your aliens looks down and becomes very confused, so you tell him that there is a game underway.
Try to answer the following questions for him:
What is the game?
Why are there no female players?
Why do people get so passionate watching other people play games?
What is a team?
Why can’t the people in the seats just go down on the field and join the game?

3. Critical Thinking Critical thinking is required in our daily lives.
Consider this:
When you write something or create an image, you are sending a message into the world;
When you read something or view an image, you are receiving a message
Whether you are on the sending or receiving side, you must think critically about ALL elements of the situation (sender; message; medium; receiver; context)

4. Critical Thinking through Reading
Reading is an important part of our daily lives.
As a student, it is a task you must perform to gain the full learning experience.
Instead of dreading reading, you can approach the task systematically to engage and absorb as much as possible.
To do this, you can:
Use SQ3R Strategy
Read Actively

5. Critical Thinking through Reading
SQ3R Strategy
Survey
Question
Read
Recite
Review

6. Critical Thinking through Reading
SQ3R Strategy
Survey
Preview the material including sender (creator), message (subject & purpose), medium (form), receiver (audience), & context (environment)
Read about the author
Read title, opening and closing paragraphs
Note all headings, paragraph topic sentences, boldface type, illustrations, charts, maps, & other content clues
Allows you to focus on writer’s message, identify organization, & anticipate how text will develop

7. Critical Thinking through Reading
SQ3R Strategy
Question
Ask questions that you hope to answer as you read
Focus on the following
Any questions that accompany the reading
Turn headings into questions
Imagine test questions for major points
Ask the journalist’s questions (5W&H)
Keeps you actively thinking about what you are reading & helps you absorb information

8. Critical Thinking through Reading
SQ3R Strategy
Read
When you read & you encounter facts & ideas, ask yourself
What does it mean?
How do the ideas relate to each other & to what I know?
What is coming next?
Take notes to keep track of answers
Read difficult parts slowly
Look for unfamiliar words or ideas
Use your senses to imagine what you are reading about
Allows you to engage in text by triggering memories & connections

9. Critical Thinking through Reading
SQ3R Strategy
Recite
After you finish a page, recite the key points aloud
Answering the 5W&H questions aloud will allow you test yourself
Tests your comprehension
Drives the material into your long-term memory
Helps connect content with what you already know

10. Critical Thinking through Reading
SQ3R Strategy
Review (as soon as you finish reading & over a few days)
Double-check the questions you posed in SQ3R
Glance over notes
Put information into long-term memory
Visualize the concepts in concrete ways
Draw diagrams or develop cluster
Put the material in your own words
Teach it to someone
Use acronyms or rhymes

11. Critical Thinking through Reading
Reading Actively (mental dialogue with writer)
Pace yourself (30-45 min of reading followed by short breaks)
Anticipate (when you break, think about what is coming next & why)
Read difficult parts aloud (alone or with partner)
Take thoughtful notes (use a system)
Annotate text (write alongside your reading)

12. Critical Thinking through Reading
Reading Actively
Map the text (helps to visualize the reading)
Clusters and graphics
Outline the text (write all major points & subpoints)
Basic topic outline

13. Critical Thinking through Reading
Read Actively
Evaluate the text (thoughtful inspecting, weighing, & evaluating)
Judge the reading’s credibility
Publisher, author, timing, tone, & attitude
Put the readings into a larger context
How does reading match what you know?
Evaluate the reasoning and support
Is the reasoning logical & clear, with enlightening examples?
Reflect on how the reading challenges you
Which of your beliefs or values does the reading call into question?

14. Critical Thinking through Reading
Responding to a text (consider this your turn in the conversation with the author)
Be honest
What the reading makes you think, feel & question
Be fluid
Let your thoughts flow & guide you; clean up later
Be reflective
Offer thoughtful reflection, not knee-jerk reactions (look inward & outward; relate to own experience)
Be selective
Zero in on one or two elements of your response & go

15. Critical Thinking through Reading
Summarizing a text (Brief record of reading’s contents)
Skim first; read closely
Get a sense of the whole work with main idea & support
Read through carefully while taking notes
Capture the argument
Review notes
State briefly in your own words
Test summary
Did you provide the heart of text & not interject opinions

16. Practice Use SQ3R strategy for reading “Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?”
Show all your work for the strategy
Next write a summary and a response to the reading