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Keywords

teaching strategies, analysis and synthesis, reading analysis, persuasive writing, critical thinking

Submission Type

Research

Preview

The new Utah State Core Curriculum standards require English language arts teachers to better prepare students for career and college readiness using the skills of close reading complex texts (Appendix A, 3) and argument writing (W1, 51). Both of these processes involve the use of synthesis and analysis for problem solving (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, 2011). Yet if we want students to read deeply and learn to write persuasively, we must offer authentic instructional situations that allow our students to access new understandings along with these foundational skills of reading and writing. Helping students become critical thinkers, writers, and readers is more complicated than teaching basic facts and knowledge. We will begin with a brief look at the underlying theory base for our proposed solution of beginning the year with direct instruction on analysis and synthesis, which we then illustrate in a unit to actively engage learners and direct our reading and writing throughout the rest of the school year.

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