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Tips for Close Reading: 1- Select Short Passages 2- Make Your Focus Intense 3- Extend Focus Through the Text 4- Students Markup the Text as They Read 5- Encourage Exploratory Discussions 6- Encourage Rereading 7- Read in Every Subject Area 8- Annotate the Text 9- Use Close Reading Marks Independently 10- Use Close Reading Strategically in Small Bites

"Questioning: A comprehension strategy for small-group guided reading http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=408 A lesson plan for grades 3-5 English Language Arts * Learn more about language arts, metacognitive strategies, questioning, and reading. * Email * Delicious Delicious * Digg Digg * Facebook Facebook * StumbleUpon StumbleUpon\n\nIn this ReadWriteThink lesson, the teacher explains the difference between thin (factual) and thick (inferential) questions, and then models how to compose question webs by thinking aloud while reading. Students observe how to gather information about the topic and add it to question webs in the form of answers or additional questions. Students practice composing thin and thick questions, as well as monitoring their comprehension, by using question webs independently in small-group reading. This practice extends knowledge of the topic and engages readers in active comprehension. "

The Common Core Reading Standards for Literacy require the explicit instruction in reading strategies across the content areas. The goal of these standards is to develop independent, strategic readers. LiteracyTA has created the Teacher Assistant (TA), student resources, and professional development for teachers that put the Common Core Reading Standards for Literacy into action. The table below provides links to resources that teachers should use to help implement the Common Core Literacy Standards.

"Critical reading means thinking carefully about an author's claims, rather than accepting these claims at face value. It requires several skills: · identifying the claims or arguments of a text; · evaluating the logic of these arguments; · determining whether the author has presented sufficient and valid evidence in support of these arguments; and · considering alternative evidence and arguments that might challenge the author's claims. Why bother? Because if you don't read critically, you may miss the main arguments of the text, or - worse - your opinions may be influenced by bogus arguments."

When you are reading for understanding, here are some questions to ask. They will help you weigh the arguments and check for validity.

How does this apply to Internet searches? We are looking for authority. What are the practices we should adopt to navigate the network world?

Great piece about close reading for CCSS - easy to understand an implement in ALL subjects.

ASCD article on Close Reading for CCSS

A pinboard on Pinterist for CCSS reading strategies

"Effective Reading Comprehension Strategies Introduction Reading comprehension is fundamental to ultimate educational success. Yet elementary students struggle with it on a daily basis. In order for students to comprehend their reading materials, it is helpful to explicitly teach comprehension strategies. (Check out this list!) I will be looking at three aspects of human cognition to be of assistance in this task: metacognition, working memory, and activating prior semantic knowledge. As an educator, it is important that I help my students reach as much of their potential as I can. Testing different strategies on my students can help me, but even more importantly, can help my students identify the best ones for each of them."

reading: lifting your mind up from understanding less to understanding more; we must read above our "level"

Science News Share Blog Cite Print Email Bookmark Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis? ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2009) - As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles. See also: Mind & Brain Intelligence Educational Psychology Computers & Math Video Games Computer Graphics Science & Society Popular Culture Educational Policy Reference Computing power everywhere Webcast Computer-generated imagery Aptitude Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games. Her research was published this month in the journal Science. Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said. How much should schools use new media, versus older techniques such as reading and classroom discussion? "No one medium is good for everything," Greenfield said. "If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops." S

"Uses of Critical Thinking Critical thinking underlies reading, writing, speaking, and listening. These are the C basic elements of communication. Critical thinking also plays an important part in social change. Consider that the institutions in any society - courts, governments, schools, businesses - are the products of a certain way of thinking. Any organization draws its life from certain assumptions about the way things should be done. Before the institution can change, those assumptions need to be loosened up or reinvented. Critical thinking also helps us uncover bias and prejudice. This is a first step toward communicating with people of other races and cultures. Critical thinking is a path to freedom from half-truths and deception. You have the right to question what you see, hear, and read. Acquiring this ability is one of the major goals of a liberal education. Skilled students are thorough thinkers. They distinguish between opinion and fact. They ask powerful questions. They make detailed observations. They uncover assumptions and define their terms. They make assertions carefully, basing them on sound logic and solid evidence. Almost everything that we call knowledge is a result of these activities. This means that critical thinking and learning are intimately linked. Practice your right to question!"

"The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have the po - tential to ensure that every child in the United States is prepared for college and careers. It is a worthy goal and one that we must work together to achieve. However, infor - mation, policies, and products aimed at helping educators to implement the ELA Common Core State Standards are be - ing produced rapidly, sometimes with conf licting messages about literacy practices. This can be a confusing situation for school leaders and classroom teachers as they seek to under - stand the Standards and the best practices for literacy instruc - tion and assessment. It is state and local leaders and teachers themselves who, ultimately, must make the Standards into an effective instructional reality-what happens day to day in classrooms determines student ELA learning."

a handbook of strategies for reading comprhension for CCSS

Many children are not strategic readers of nonfiction text; they dive into reading nonfiction the same way they approach a story or a novel. But if students are to become literate readers in a world filled with an abundance of information, they need to be good readers and strategic readers.

Offers definitions of critical thinking and links to quality resources on topics such as argument mapping, assessment, cognitive biases, critical reading and writing, experts and expertise. (this resource was identified in Microsoft's "Developing Critical Thinking Through Web Research skills") Top Ten 1. Argument Mapping Tutorials. Six online tutorials in argument mapping, a core requirement for advanced critical thinking. 2. The Skeptic's Dictionary - over 400 definitions and essays. 3. The Fallacy Files by Gary Curtis. Best website on fallacies. 4. Butterflies and Wheels. Excellent reading - news, articles, and much more. 5. Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts by Peter Facione. Good overview of the nature of critical thinking. (pdf file) 6. Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion by John Stuart Mill. Classic chapter, densely packed with wisdom about thinking. 7. Chance - best resource for helping students think critically about issues involving probability and statistics 8. Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, by Richards Heuer. A good overview of how to improve thinking in the light of insights from cognitive psychology. 9. A Handbook on Writing Argumentative and Interpretative Essays by Ian Johnston 10. Baloney Detection Part 1 and Part 2 - by Michael Shermer. 10 step guide.

The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a national educational program that taps experienced journalists to help middle and high school students "sort fact from fiction in the digital age." According to its website, the project teaches students critical-thinking skills that will help them become smarter consumers and creators of information across all types of media. It shows students "how to distinguish verified information from spin, opinion, and misinformation-whether they are using search engines to find websites with information about specific topics, assessing a viral eMail, viewing a video on YouTube, watching television news, or reading a newspaper or a blog post." Working with educators, students, and journalists, NLP says it has developed original curriculum materials "based on engaging activities and student projects that build and reflect understanding of the program's essential questions. The curriculum includes material on a variety of topics … that is presented through hands-on exercises, games, videos, and the journalists' own compelling stories."

The contemporary movement towards peeragogy has roots in the work of these Western education scholars, who have contributed to what is known as the field of "critical pedagogy." This is an approach to teaching that encourages students to think critically and creatively about what they read as opposed to passively accepting it.

Booklet on CCSS strategies

CCSS strategies

"I'd like to briefly take a look at using critical thinking specifically for reading blogs and tweets (although this method could apply to just about anything). While there isn't an official formula for doing this, I'd like to suggest using "The Five W's" that we learn in elementary school as guidelines for inquiry; they include Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, and (sometimes) How?. Instead of using the Five W's for developing content (they're the basics for writing a successful news piece), use the Five W's to analyze any post/piece of writing. Here's how to get started:

Analysis of critical thinking. Very good resource for evaluation as well.