Reading Introduction
A Model for Problem-Centered Reading Units
Many courses in reading education aim at helping students reflect thoughtfully and critically on the texts they read. Methods for teaching students to engage in critical literacy become increasingly important as technology creates access to unprecedented amounts of information from sources unfettered by referees and the conventions that have traditionally controlled quality for materials published in print formats.Problems related to the issue of critical literacy require that teachers and students recognize bias, propaganda, and lack of accuracy or evidence in printed and multimedia materials. We want students to use a variety of assessment criteria to determine the value and authority of information and to make informed decisions based on critical evaluation and objective readings of materials found in a variety of sources and media.
Reading for Nothing But the Truth is a problem-centered literature unit for high school students that focuses on the book Nothing But the Truth by Avi. This unit is an example of a technology-infused, problem-centered project for teaching and learning critical reading which corresponds to state of Alabama and national standards. It is designed to engage students in examining bias and inflammatory language in questioning an author's purpose and in analyzing the power of words. Reading for Nothing But the Truth poses a loosely structured problem that will take shape and be defined as teachers and students determine what, if anything, is "nothing but the truth."
Click here to go to Reading for Nothing But the Truth unit.
Developers of this unit are:
Edna Brabham and Bruce Murray, Assistant Professors of
Reading Education, Auburn University
Angela Raines, Reading Instructor, Beauregard High School
and Reading Instructor, Auburn University
Susan Criswell, Art Education Teacher, Auburn High School