Critical Reading Strategy: SQ3R [with graphic organizer template]

A screenshot of my SQ3R notes from the Critical Thinking and 

Argumentation course. Students read an excerpt from the 

academic text, Argumentation & Critical Decision Making by Rieke.

This past week my Critical Reading and Argumentation class was a bit chaotic. I was out sick for two days (yes in the first five days of school), and had to alter my original plans for them a bit. It actually ended up working out pretty well because I was able to integrate an academic reading that I found this summer. I knew that I wanted students to read it because it laid a pretty good foundation about argument structure and gave us some good key terms to work on throughout the rest of the trimester. I hadn't, however, thought about when to use it.

Sick days and sub plans turned out to be a great opportunity.

One of my big goals this year with this course, and all my courses really, is to give the students multiple critical reading strategies that they can add to their "Reading Toolbox". I want to discuss how not all tools I teach them will fit their personal preferences or every reading they read. Students will hopefully realize that the tools we learn and practice will be helpful in their other courses as well.

So, it seemed only fitting since they would be reading an excerpt from an academic textbook that we start out with the SQ3R critical reading strategy. This is one that I learned from a co-teacher a few years back, and I always struggle to remember what the letters stand for so I knew I wanted a way to make it simple for my learners.

Survey - look over the reading and note anything that stands out or seems important (title, author, dates, headings, subheadings, photos, graphics, charts/graphs, captions, etc.

Question - turn each heading and subheading into a question using who, what, when, where, or why. Since you haven't yet read the section, you may be able to form couple questions but only answer one after reading. That's fine. 

Read - this one is obvious. Read the text. I do, however, discuss with students the fact that I cannot read straight through 12 pages of text and pay attention that long. I tell them that I like to read each section then stop and Recite or answer my question for that section. I encourage them to make stopping points for themselves, whether that's every section or every three sections.  

Recite - I mentioned this under read, but this is where students will stop and try to summarize what they read in a section in order to answer the question they wrote.  I encourage students to try to write their answer without looking back at their reading, then double check themselves. I explain that if I'm looking at the reading when I write my answer, I'm more likely to plagiarize and write an answer that is too close to the original text. 

**Note: Students may go back and forth between the Read and Recite steps multiple times. That's perfectly fine!  

Review -  This final phase may come immediately following the reading or later on. I stress to learners that when they're finished they have a great set of notes to use as review before discussion, a quiz, or a test. They now have one page to review with instead of having to re-read the entire reading. 

We're a GAFE school so I decided to make a graphic organizer template in Google Documents. Now, teachers are highly encouraged to go paperless so students typically read on their devices (Lenovo Chromebooks), which have pretty small screens. It's not logical for them to have the graphic organizer pulled up beside the reading. I encouraged them that if they wanted to print the graphic organizer and hand write their notes they could do that if it worked better for them.

After modeling how to use the graphic organizer with my first period class (I had to come in sick for the first hour of school to get sub plans together), I created a flipped instruction video for my afternoon classes.

Then, students went through and Read/annotated the reading while also going through the steps of SQ3R. In the case of this assignment, I actually had students complete the Review step with  partner and compare notes on the second day I was absent. They also used Quizlet to make flashcards for the reading's key terms.

If you have other SQ3R resources or suggestions feel free to share them in the comments section. If any of the links or templates don't work please email me!

Flipped Instruction Video - explains SQ3R and using the graphic organizer template
SQ3R Graphic Organizer Template - created in Google Documents, the link will force you to make a copy of it so the original doesn't get messed up

To check out this and other reading strategies and tools, visit my Padlet page. https://padlet.com/mamason0725/criticalreadingstrategies

What's Happened??

So what's happened since my last [November] blog post??

Some pretty big things...

1. I am now the proud mama of a one-year-old toddler (yikes!)
2. I completed my masters degree in Education and Technology (basically technology integration and curriculum design with tech in mind)
3. I signed on for another year as a technology integration specialist (one of two in my building)
4. I officially made it past the 5 year hump in teaching! (The start to year 6 has been my toughest so far...or at least it seems like it after week one.)