EBR - Critical Reading Lesson

Critical Reading

Students that do well on the verbal section of the SAT are typically good critical readers. There is more to reading a passage than just skimming the content of the passage and moving on to the questions. The purpose of reading is to connect the ideas on the page to what you already know. If you don't know anything about the subject, you aren't going to retain very much. So let's assume that you don't know anything about the topic of the passage. How are you going to be able to understand and retain what you are reading? By reading critically!

For example, read these numbers: 7516423

They are hard to read and remember.

Now, read these numbers: 751-6423

This is easier to remember because of chunking. Phone numbers utilize this type of organization, so it makes it easier to remember due to our familiarity with this structure.

Let's look at the group of numbers one last time: 123-4567

These numbers are very easy to remember due to prior knowledge and structure.

Critical Reading

Critical reading is the active engagement and interaction with texts. It also involves analyzing the text, asking questions, and thinking outside of the box. So what does it mean to analyze? It means to break it apart. So you, as the reader, must break down the text in order to understand the author's message, purpose, tone, etc. It is necessary to be a critical reader in order to be successful on the reading portion of the SAT.

In order to help you read critically, take a look at these strategies:

Preview the text - this means that you look at how the passage is structured. Examine the layout. Is the passage an article? Is it a persuasive speech? Are there graphs or images included? Texts demand different things as you read, so by looking around the text, you can determine what type of information you have been presented with which will help you with your general comprehension.
Annotate the text - you will learn more about this skill in the subsequent lesson. However, it's important to have a conversation with yourself as you move through the text. Get in the habit of asking questions. Mark up the passage. Underline key ideas. Circle important words or phrases.
Summarize and Analyze - look at the overall meaning and message of the passage. What is the main idea? What point is the author trying to get across? Then, break it down. Analyze the passage. Did the author effectively get across his/her point? What rhetorical devices were used?
Look for patterns - the way an author chooses to construct his/her writing is important. Are there key words that have been repeated? Are ideas repeated? Where an author chooses to place words and ideas can help you make meaning and better understand the author's attitude and message.
Contextualize - does the information presented change the way that you think about the topic? Essentially, you want to review the passage and put it into context.

Clearly, you won't have time to go through each one of these steps on the actual SAT. However, when you start reading critically every time you encounter a passage or text, you will begin to do these things without thinking about them. These strategies will come naturally. Now some of the tips, such as annotating a passage, you will absolutely want to do on the actual test. You will need to be intentional about this strategy!

General Tips for the Reading section of the SAT:

Avoid focusing on every word as you read. Instead look at groups of 2-3 words. This tip will also help those of you who still move your lips when you read silently.
Look for main ideas - skim passages first.
Read daily! The best way to improve reading skills is to read often.

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS OR OPENSOURCE