Reading Critically - Interrogating Texts

What Is Critical Reading? Note: These remarks are primarily directed at non-fictional texts. Facts v. Interpretation To non -critical readers, texts provide facts. Readers gain knowledge by memorizing the statements within a text. To the critical reader, any single text provides but one portrayal of the facts, one individual’s “take” on the subject matter. A non-critical reader might read a history book to learn the facts of the situation or to discover an accepted interpretation of those events. What a Text Says, Does, and Means: Reaching for an Interpretation Non-critical reading is satisfied with recognizing what a text says and restating the key remarks. Critical reading goes two steps further. These three steps or modes of analysis are reflected in three types of reading and discussion: What a text says – restatement What a text does – description What a text means – interpretation . Goals of Critical Reading Analysis and Inference: The Tools of Critical Reading

Critical literacy Critical literacy is the ability to read texts in an active, reflective manner in order to better understand power, inequality, and injustice in human relationships. For the purposes of critical literacy, text is defined as a “vehicle through which individuals communicate with one another using the codes and conventions of society”. The development of critical literacy skills enables people to interpret messages in the modern world through a critical lens and challenge the power relations within those messages. In this article History and theory of critical literacy The term “critical literacy” was developed by social critical theorists concerned with dismantling social injustice and inequalities. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire provides an example of how critical literacy is developed in an educational context. Critical literacy in practice Critical literacy and social action Critical literacy in the classroom Reading supplementary texts Classroom application Reading multiple texts

Telling Time Activities Spin It to Win It Telling Time Activity: Play “Hour Power” and “Minute It To Win It” to begin learning about the basic parts of a clock. To create the games, use the clock pages as the spinner board. Attach the hour and minute hands onto paper clip. Poke a hole in the middle of each clock and use a paper fastener to hold the spinner. Players take turns spinning the clock hand. When the spinner stops, players must place the correct hour or minutes circle piece in that spot. Information: Telling Time Activity, Using Clocks, How to Read a Clock, Reading Clocks Activity, Spin It to Win It Download Speed Reading Software and tools: Eyercize 16 Apps That Will Motivate Even Your Most Resistant Readers For every kid who is caught hiding beneath his covers with a flashlight and a novel at midnight, there is another who has to be begged and pleaded with to read. And the latter might need a little extra—shall we call it encouragement?—to become a great reader. To help, we've rounded up a list of the top apps that not only teach essential reading skills but also motivate kids—even the most book-phobic—to read, read and read some more. Apps For Early Readers Word Bingo: Who doesn't love a good game of BINGO? Super Why: With some help from some superhero readers, your kid will get a jump start on reading by playing these fun, interactive reading games. ABC Go: Have a planes, trains and automobiles fanatic at your house? ABC Wildlife: Or if your kid is more Jane Goodall than NASCAR driver, try ABC Wildlife where pictures of animals are paired with new vocab words and fun reading games. Apps for Elementary School Readers Mad Libs: Who didn't love Mad Libs as a kid?

Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes How much more could you get done if you completed all of your required reading in 1/3 or 1/5 the time? Increasing reading speed is a process of controlling fine motor movement—period. This post is a condensed overview of principles I taught to undergraduates at Princeton University in 1998 at a seminar called the “PX Project”. The below was written several years ago, so it’s worded like Ivy-Leaguer pompous-ass prose, but the results are substantial. Here’s how it works… The PX Project The PX Project, a single 3-hour cognitive experiment, produced an average increase in reading speed of 386%. It was tested with speakers of five languages, and even dyslexics were conditioned to read technical material at more than 3,000 words-per-minute (wpm), or 10 pages per minute. If you understand several basic principles of the human visual system, you can eliminate inefficiencies and increase speed while improving retention. First, several definitions and distinctions specific to the reading process:

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