RWS 2

• Reading


  1. Using eyes to receive written symbols

  2. Using brain to convert symbols into words, sentences, and paragraphs that communicate something
• Critical reading


  • Evaluating the arguments in the text
  • Distinguishing fact from opinion
  • Looking at arguments given for and against claims
  • Being aware of your own opinions and assumptions
  • Being aware of the writer's background, assumptions, and purposes
• Critical reading


  Actively engaged in what you read by first developing a clear understanding of the author's ideas, then questioning and evaluating the arguments and evidence provided to support those arguments, and finally by forming your own opinions
• Steps in critical reading

  1. Before reading: Scan the piece to get an idea of what it is about and what the main argument is

  2. While reading: Keep a running dialogue with the author through annotation

  3. After reading: Look over annotations to get an overall idea of the text, write a summary

  4. Responding to the text: Analyze the author's argument and methods, develop your own ideas
• Three levels of critical reading

  • Familiarization: what the text says
  • Description: what the text does
  • Interpretation: what the text means
• Strategies for reading and thinking critically


  • Annotating
  • Contextualizing
  • Reflecting on challenges to beliefs and values
  • Paraphrasing
  • Outlining
  • Summarizing
  • Exploring figurative language
  • Looking for patterns of opposition
  • Evaluating the logic of an argument
  • Judging the writer's credibility
• Reasoning


  The act of giving statements for justification and explanation, the ability to defend something by giving reasons
• How to develop reasoning

  1. Figure something out, settle a question, solve a problem

  2. Based on assumptions

  3. Based on data, information, and evidence

  4. Expressed through, and shaped by, concepts and ideas
• Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions, it also requires you to use your ability to reason. It is about being an active learner rather than a passive recipient of information.