Encouraging Critical Literacy

Encouraging Critical Literacy

What Does It Mean To Be A Critical Reader?

• Be actively engaged in text• Develop an understanding of the

author’s ideas• Analyze and question the ideas and

arguments presented • Read between the lines• Develop your own opinion

Goals Of Critical Literacy

• Understand the voice and persuasive elements of the text

• Willingness to become involved in what is being read

• Recognize the author’s purpose• To recognize BIAS

– What is Bias?

Frequently Used Teacher Comprehension Assessment

Strategies:

• Multiple choice questions

• True or false

• Vocabulary work

Why Negative?

• Easy to grade, but not challenging or fun

• Do not encourage active reading

Active Reading Enables Students To Interact With Text

Teachers play role of facilitator and students take the lead

Encourages readers to voice and discuss their opinions

Questions To Help Develop Critical/Active Reading Skills

• Where and when was the text written?

• Why was it written?• What is it about?• What is the genre?• Who is the text addressed to? Why

do you think the author wrote this?

Questions To Help Develop Critical/Active Reading Skills

• What kind of voice is the author using? Is there a persuasive tone?

• Formal vs. informal? • Look at the illustrations…what do

they say?• How does the story make you feel?• Are there gender issues to address?

What is the boy/girl like? Why?• Do you see any stereotypes?

Assessing Comprehension: Questions To Ask

• Can you connect this story to something you know?

• What is the main idea of this story?• What is this story REALLY about?