Re-wording
our Reading Focuses for Students:
Readers think and talk about what they read
Readers talk back to the text
Readers pay attention to the relationships in the text
Readers think and talk about how characters are thinking
Readers ask, “Did the character do anything surprising?”
Readers put themselves in the character’s place to better understand the character
If I were this character I …
If/when this happened to me …
Readers think about what they’re learning when they read
Readers think about the author’s message and/or the big idea
Readers pay attention to how time passes in a text
Readers work hard to feel, hear, and see the story
Non-fiction
critical thinking involves:
Recognizing fact vs. opinion
Recognizing strong evidence vs. irrelevant data
Recognizing one-sided arguments
Recognizing connotative language and generalizations
Recognizing author’s point of view
Distinguishing between relevant and nonrelevant information
Questions an author’s reason for offering a particular interpretation
Non-fiction
readers think and talk about:
The main ideas or points of view in an argument
How the text features worked to create a specific response in the reader
Their questions while reading, and they use their experience and knowledge as readers to find answers within the text
The main arguments in expository text
The author’s bias, and to what extent this bias effects the integrity of the text
The accuracy and clarity of the information (Is this true?) (Are parts of it true?)
The difference between what is interesting and what is important
How this information adds to or compares to what we already know about the subject
The strength of the evidence used to support a point of view
The conclusion they draw or the opinions they form using evidence from the text to support their decision