California State Universities Reading and Writing Course Assignment Template

After reading the assignment template, I was surprised by how much reading and writing tasks I already do subconsciously. For example, before I start reading a piece of text , I tap into my prior knowledge. What do I already know about the text? Am I familiar with the author or authors? Is there a historical event that the book is based on? While I read, I constantly make inferences and predictions about what is going to happen to the characters or how the plot is going to unfold. In addition, I also look up the meanings of words that I do not know and highlight important quotes that I might want to review later.  By taking all of these steps before, during, and after reading, I am able to think critically about what I have just read and retain new information for a longer period of time.

As a future teacher, I think it is crucial for all students to know how to become not only critical readers, but also critical thinkers. These skills go hand and hand because students need to learn how to think critically about what they have just read.  Being able to think critically is a skill that will be valuable in school and  beyond. It is a skill that students will use in every day life such as debating whether a post on social media is real news or fake news or whether they should reply to a text while driving. 

The students that I work with at my placement are sophomores and throughout the year they have learned how to become critical readers and thinkers. Through practice and reinforcement, students automatically begin to annotate a piece of text when it is given to them. Some students get a dictionary to define words. Once students have finished annotating a piece of text, they share with a partner and then discuss with the entire class. These whole class discussions have proven to be extremely beneficial because they provide students with clarity about questions and even lead to a deeper dissection of the text. I am still working on asking more thought-provoking  questions to students, but I feel fairly confident about how much their critical reading and thinking skills have developed from the beginning of the school year to now.