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Critical Reading

By missdorey
Grade Level
3-5 6-8
private
LEARNING PLAN
Essential Question
  • What does this text do to me?
  • What purpose do author's have when they write?
  • How do author's select which information they include in a text?
  • How can we know if a text is authentic?
  • Why don't all texts give accurate representations?
  • Why do author's use misinformation?
  • How do author's promote their position on a subject?
  • Why do some texts represent perspectives differently to others?
  • How can we identify an author's point of view and evidence of bias?
Texts
Literature

Rose Blanche

During World War II, a young German girl, Rose Blanche, inadvertently discovers a concentration camp not far from her town. She travels there frequently, taking food to the children on the other side of the barbed wire and meets a haunted fate the day she discovers the camp is gone.
by
Roberto Innocenti and Christophe Gallaz
Grade Level
3-5
Subject
Civics
History
Geography
Topic
Race & Ethnicity Religion
Social Justice Domain
Justice Action
July 2, 2014
Literature

Shoulders

In this poem, the speaker sees a man carrying his son across the street and is struck by the tenderness the man displays for the child. The speaker realizes that humanity must cloak itself in this same caring nature.
by
Naomi Shihab Nye
Grade Level
3-5 6-8
Subject
Civics
Topic
Bullying & Bias
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Action
July 2, 2014
Literature

Eat, My Fine Coat!

Which are you more likely to notice: a person’s character or his or her clothing? Hoca has a witty response when the latter is true at a dinner he attends after a day of hard work.
by
Barbara Walker
Grade Level
K-2 3-5
Topic
Class
Social Justice Domain
Justice Action
July 3, 2014
Literature

The Breadwinner

After spending months talking to women in Afghan refugee camps, Deborah Ellis penned this timely novel about life under Taliban rule. Living in Afghanistan with her family, Parvana is a rarity—a girl who can read and experiences life, even for just a few hours, outside the four walls of her home.
by
Deborah Ellis
Grade Level
3-5 6-8
Subject
Civics
Geography
Topic
Gender & Sexual Identity
Social Justice Domain
Justice
July 3, 2014
Literature

The Skin I'm In (Chapter 3)

Maleeka gets made fun of at school about her clothes, her grades, even the color of her skin. In this chapter, she talks about getting teased on a school trip and how even her friend Char was ashamed to be seen with her because of her clothes.
by
Sharon Flake
Grade Level
3-5 6-8
Topic
Race & Ethnicity
Social Justice Domain
Justice
July 3, 2014
Literature

Only One Me

This poem's speaker describes being bullied and feeling depressed and skipping school to avoid the harassment. Spiraling downhill emotionally, the speaker ultimately comes to accept and appreciate his/her unique identities.
by
Sean Mauricette (aka SUBLIMINAL)
Grade Level
6-8
Topic
Bullying & Bias
Social Justice Domain
Identity Justice
July 8, 2014
Literature

Raised By Women

In her poem, Kelly Norman Ellis brings to life a vivid picture of the kind of women she was surrounded and brought up by during her childhood in Mississippi. The poem's speaker takes you down south and makes you feel like a guest at the kitchen table by way of her descriptions.
by
Kelly Norman Ellis
Grade Level
6-8
Topic
Gender & Sexual Identity Race & Ethnicity
Social Justice Domain
Identity
January 5, 2015
Informational

Brothers In Hope: The Story of The Lost Boys of Sudan

In this excerpt, Garang tells his story of how he became a lost boy when war destroyed his village. Walking with thousands of other orphaned boys, Garang travels thousands of dangerous miles from southern Sudan to a refugee camp in Ethiopia.
by
Mary Williams and R. Gregory Christie (illustrator)
Grade Level
K-2 3-5
Subject
History
Topic
Race & Ethnicity
Social Justice Domain
Identity Diversity Justice
September 30, 2016
Teaching Strategies
Word Work

Concept Sort

A concept sort is a comprehension strategy in which students sort new vocabulary into categories.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
L.3-5.4, L.3-5.5, L.3-5.6
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Agree/Disagree Statements

Agree/disagree statements challenge students to think critically about their knowledge of a topic, theme or text. The strategy exposes students to the major ideas in a text before reading—engaging their thinking and motivating them to learn more. It also requires them to reconsider their original thinking after reading the text and to use textual evidence to support and explain their thinking.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
RF.3-5.4, RL.3-5.1, RI.3-5.1, RL.3-5.2, RI.3-5.2
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Annolighting

“Annolighting” (annotating and highlighting) shows students how to identify critical information in a text during close reading. Students learn to annotate text, highlight important facts and summarize what they have read to capture main ideas, concepts and details.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
RL.3-5.2, RI.3-5.2, RL.3-5.4, RI.3-5.4, RL.3.5, RI.3.5, L.3-5.4
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Challenge the Text

Challenge the Text helps students ask and answer their own text-dependent questions by taking multiple perspectives and uncovering assumptions and biases within the text.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.3, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.3, RI.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Question-Answer Relationships (QAR)

QAR gives students practice questioning the text and identifying literal and inferential questions. Students learn to find different types of evidence and to rely on their own interpretation when doing close reading.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
RL.3-5.1, RI.3-5.1, RF.3-5.4
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Reading Against the Grain

In reading against the grain students analyze the dominant reading of a text and engage in alternative or "resistant" readings. Resistant readings scrutinize the beliefs and attitudes that typically go unexamined in a text, drawing attention to the gaps, silences and contradictions.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Text Graffiti

This strategy exposes students to multiple short pieces of a text before they read it in its entirety. Students read selected quotes out of context and comment on both the selection and the comments of other students. The activity ends with students reflecting on their reactions to and predictions about the text.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RI.6-12.1
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Text-Dependent Questions

Readers must refer back to the central text to answer text-dependent questions and provide evidence from the reading to support their answers. Students provide accurate, relevant and complete evidence. To do this well, students will often need to re-read the text several times. This approach privileges the text over prior knowledge, personal experience and pre-reading activities.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.4, RL.6-12.5, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.3, RI.6-12.4, RI.6-12.6
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Thinking Notes

Thinking notes are text annotations (highlights, underlines or symbols made on the text or in the margins) that document student thinking during reading. Depending on how you structure the task, these notes can indicate agreement, objection, confusion or other relevant reactions to the text.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
July 19, 2014
Close and Critical Reading

Window or Mirror?

This task helps students consider if the text is a window or a mirror through practicing literacy skills and using technology.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.3, RL.6-12.7, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.3, RI.6-12.7
April 18, 2016
Student Tasks
Write to the Source

Agree or Disagree

Agree or Disagree? asks students to demonstrate their argumentative and comparative writing skills.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3-5.1, W.3-5.4, W.4-5.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Beautiful Language

Beautiful Language asks students to demonstrate their narrative skills when writing to gain the understanding of others.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3-5.3, W.3-5.4
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Break It Down

Break it Down asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and descriptive writing skills.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
W.6-12.2, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Cause and Effect

Cause and Effect asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and informative writing skills.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3-5.2, W.3-5.4, W.4-5.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Fact or Opinion

Fact or Opinion asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and analytical writing skills.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3.2, W.4.2, W.5.2, W.3.4, W.4.4, W.5.4, W.4.9, W.5.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

In Conversation

In Conversation asks students to demonstrate their narrative skills when applying different points of view in writing.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3-5.3, W.3-5.4
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Lift a Line

Lift A Line asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and descriptive writing skills.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3-5.2, W.3-5.4, W.4-5.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Point of View

Point of View asks students to demonstrate their narrative skills when applying different points of view in writing.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3-5.3, W.3-5.4
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Problem Solver

Problem Solver asks students to demonstrate their argumentative skills when identifying problems and solutions in writing.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
W.6-12.1, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

Small Moment

Small Moment asks students to demonstrate their narrative skills when writing about personal experiences.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3-5.3, W.3-5.4
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

So What?

So What? asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and informative skills when writing to gain the understanding of others.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
CCSS
W.6-12.2, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9
July 19, 2014
Write to the Source

What Do We Share

What do We Share? asks students to demonstrate their argumentative and comparative writing skills.
Grade Level
3-5
CCSS
W.3-5.1, W.3-5.4, W.4-5.9
July 19, 2014
Do Something

Be the Change...

Students identify and investigate a community problem and propose a solution. They then plan and implement action directed at solving the problem.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Community Mural / Poster Campaign

Students create a large-scale artistic depiction in a community space. As an alternative to the community mural, students can create a set of informational posters that reflect a diversity topic or social justice theme.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Persuasive Letters

Students write to a business, school or community leader to call for action in response to a social justice issue from the central text. Alternatively, students can write open, persuasive letters to their peers or family members.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Picture Books

Students work in small groups to write and illustrate an original children's picture book to teach others about a social justice or diversity topic present in the central text.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Plan Built By
missdorey

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