How Can We Further Develop Critical

Thinking Skills During Reading?

PRESENTED BY: AYANA FLETCHER-TYSON

D A T E : N O V E M B E R 5 TH, 2 0 1 5
 Do Now:

Write down 1 sentence on the index card provided

that defines critical thinking to you.
Then write down 1 word that is synonymous with
critical thinking in your opinion.
 Objectives

TWBAT identify different strategies for teaching

critical thinking to maximize students critical
thinking skills when independently reading texts.

TWBAT choose 1 of the presented strategies to

implement at least once by December 1st to
meaningfully impact instruction. TW submit chosen
strategy to instructional coach.
 Blooms Taxonomy

Old Version New Version

 Comprehension Questions

Types of questions
Factual: Understanding the explicit information using
the text and pictures
Inferential: Adding clues within one part of the text with
personal experience to understand what is not being
stated directly
Generally 1 correct answer.
Critical thinking: Adding up clues and inferences from
throughout text, combining it with personal experience
or prior knowledge to develop an interpretation
Elicits multiple correct answers
 Group Discussion

Question 1:
What did Juliet think would be the reason she could not
be a detective?
Question 2:
Why does Juliet make a list of all of the things that she
can do?

Questions taken from

Juliet, Pig Detective
STEP 10 assessment questions.
 Data Dive

Schoolwide Trend:
Based on the STEP assessment and school Kickboard data, the
questions that students are struggling the most to answer after
reading a text are critical thinking questions that ask the
reader to synthesize information
Example of trend: 2nd Grade ELA Interim Results
78% mastery level when asked to answer questions with factual
information and evidence from the text under standard RL.2.1

VERSUS

53% mastery level when asked to critically think and provide

evidence about character motivations under standard RL.2.
 How can we address these trends?

We can address this trend by implementing the following

strategies. These strategies come from the works Higher Order
Thinking Skills to Develop 21st Century Learners, Research-
Based Methods of Reading Instruction, and Great Habits, Great
Readers and will help strengthen students critical thinking skills
so that they in turn can transfer those skills to critically thinking
when reading independently.
 Strategy 1: The Socratic Method

This strategy promotes the use of questions where

students must use reason and evidence to provide
answers that in turn lead to more questions calling
for consideration of different perspectives and
viewpoints.
Requires explicit planning
 Strategy 2: Brainstorming versus Brainwriting

Brainstorming: generating new concepts, ideas,

and/or solutions to a problem; generally done whole
group
Brainwriting: Once a problem is presented, students
write out 3 ideas about the problem or solutions.
Students then pass their papers and read the
previous students work. Then each student must
contribute 3 new ideas or solutions to the paper and
then the routine is repeated for a fixed number of
rounds. Finally, the class meets to consolidate the
ideas.
 Strategy 3: The Wallas Model

This strategy involves teaching students to go through 4

stages of thought before coming to a solution to a
question posed or problem given:
Preparation
Define problem/question
Incubation
Reflect on problem/question
Illumination
Decide of solution to problem/question
Verification
Check that solution actually solves/answers
problem/question
 Strategy 4: Questioning the Author and Prompting

Teachers work with students to set a goal for

reading and coach them on how to focus their
reading when reading independently. Teachers use
questions to guide students synthesis of
information from the texts.
The goal is to connect information in the text to
other information and ideas from other texts and
with personal knowledge
Strategy 4: Questioning the Author and Prompting

Examples of questions to consider asking:

How does _____ connect with what the author already told us?

What information has the author added here that connects to or

fits with _____?
Did the text explain _____ clearly? What is missing? What can
figure out?
What other books have we read about [this theme]?

Could we make a connection to another book that we have read?

What were the perceptions in that book?
Have you ever read about characters like this? How did they
approach ________? How can you apply that knowledge to
this text?
Strategy 5: Teach the Reader meets Teach the Text

The name of this strategy refers to the debate

between educators of teaching a reader skills that
can be used across any context versus teaching a
reader to closely read and answer questions about
content-rich texts.
This strategy involves teacher crafting questions
that deliberately remove some of the scaffolding
from questions, forcing students to analyze the text
and synthesize the information before answering.
Strategy 5: Teach the Reader meets Teach the Text

Example: Leo the Late Bloomer

Questions

Weak Questions What is Leos Was Leos father

father worried really watching
about? television?

Questions that What are the What words and

teach the reader characters pictures struck
and the text feeling in the you on this
story? page? What is
the author
trying to tell
you?
 Strategy 6: Intellectual Accountability

This strategy involves setting a standard of continued

rigorous thinking during independent reading. Give
students guides on how to frame their thinking during
independent reading time so that they are able to train their
brains to think critically automatically.
Consider different measures for accountability based on if
the text is narrative or informational.
 Lets Practice!

On each table is a book!

Look through the book and decide which strategy
could best be matched with the book to encourage
students to critically think about the characters
motivations or events in the story. Write your choice
on the post-it note and be prepared to shared!
 References

Bambrick-Santoyo, P., Settles, A., & Worrell, J. (2013). Great habits, great readers: A
practical guide for K-4 reading in the light of common core. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.

Conkin, W. (2012). Higher-Order Thinking Skills to Develop 21st Century Learners.

Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education.

McGregor, T. (2007). Comprehension connections: Bridges to strategic reading.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann.

Urban Education Institute. (2011). Strategic teaching and evaluation of progress: A

manual to guide the assessment. Chicago, Il: The University of Chicago.

Vaughn, S., & Linan-Thompson, S. (2004). Research-based methods of reading

instruction, grades K-3. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.