Reading Critically

1.1 DETERMINING MAIN IDEAS

The MAIN IDEA is a statement that sums up the most important point of paragraph,
a passage, an article, or speech. Determining the main idea will increase your
understanding as you read about historic event, people, and places. Main ideas are
supported by details and examples.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Identify the Topic. To find the main idea of the passage, first identify the
topic. Then, as you read, define the central idea about the topic that the many
details explain or support.
1. Identify the topic by first looking at the title or subtitle.
2. Look at the beginning and ending sentences of each paragraph for possible
clues to the main idea.
3. Read the entire passage. Look for details about the topic. what central idea do
they explain or support?
Strategy: Make a Diagram. State the topic and list the supporting details in a chart.
Use the information you record to help you state the main idea.
Think how each detail supports the man idea.
1.2 FOLLOWING CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER is the order in which events happen in time. Historians
need to figure out the order in which things happened to get an accurate sense of
the relationships among events. As you read history, figure out the sequence, or
time order of events.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Look for the Time Clues. Notice how the time line that follows puts the
events in chronological order.
1. Look for clue words about time. These are word like first, initial, next, then,
before, after, followed, finally, and by that time.
2. Use specific dates provided in the text.
3. Watch for references to previous historical events that are included in the
background.
Strategy: Make a Time Line
If the events are complex, make a time line of them. Write the dates below the line
and the events above the line.
1.3 CLARIFYING; SUMMARIZING
CLARIFYING means making clear and fully understanding what you read. One way to
do this is by asking yourself question about the material. In your answers, restate in
your own words what you have read.
SUMMARIZING means condensing what you read into fewer words. You state only
the main ideas and the most important details. In your own words, reduce the
paragraph or section into a brief report of its general ideas.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Understand and Condense the Text. Following the description is a
summary that condenses and also clarifies the key information.
1. Summarize. Look for topic sentences stating the main idea. This are often at the
beginning of a section or paragraph. Restate each main idea.
2. Clarify: look up words or concepts you don’t know.
3. Summarize: include key facts and statistics. Watch for numbers, dates, quantities,
percentages and facts.
4. Clarify: make sure you understand. Ask yourself questions and answer them. For
example, who’s carrying what?
Strategy: Find and clearly restate the main idea.
Strategy: write a summary. Clarify and summarize: write a summary to clarify your
understanding of the main ideas.

1.4 IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS means finding and understanding the difficulties faced by a
particular group of people at a certain time. Noticing how the people solved their
problems is IDENTIFYING SOLUTIONS. Checking further to see how well those
solutions worked is identifying outcomes.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Look for problems and solutions.
1. Look for implied problems. Problems may be suggested indirectly.
2. Look for problems people face.
3. Look for solutions people tried to deal with each problem.
4. Check outcomes to the solutions. See how well the solutions worked. Sometimes
the solution to one problem caused another problem.
Strategy: Make a Chart. Summarize the problems and solutions in a chart. Identify
the problem or problems and the steps taken to solve them. Look for the short-and-
long term effects of the solutions.
1.5 ANALYZING CAUSES AND RECOGNIZING EFFECTS
CAUSES are the events, conditions, and other reasons that lead to an event. Causes
happen before the event in time, they explain why it happened. EFFECTS are the
results or consequences of the event. One effect often becomes the cause of other
effects, resulting in a chain of events. Causes and effects can be both short-term and
long-term. Examining CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS helps historians see how
events are related and why they took place.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Keep track of causes and effects as you read.
1. Causes: look for clue words that show cause. These include because, due to, since
and therefore.
2. Look for multiple causes and multiple effects.
3. Effects: look for results or consequences. Sometimes these are indicated by clue
words such as brought about, led to, as a result, and consequently.
4. Notice that an effect may be the cause of another event. This begins a chain of
cause and effects.
Strategy: Make a cause-and-effect diagram. Summarize cause-and effect
relationships in a diagram. Starting with the first cause in a series, fill in the boxes
until you reach the end result.

1.6 COMPARING AND CONTRASTING

Historians compare and contrast events, personalities, ideas, behaviors, beliefs, and
institutions in order to understand them thoroughly. COMPARING involves finding
both similarities and differences between two or more things. CONTRASTING means
examining only the differences between them.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Look For Similarities And Differences.
1. Compare: Look for features that two subjects have in common.
2. Compare: Look for clue words indicating that two things are alike. Clue words
include all, both, like, as, likewise and similarly.
3. Contrasts: Look for clue words that show how two things differ. Clue words include
unlike, by contrast, however, except, different, and on the other hand.
4. Contrast: Look for ways in which two things are different.
Strategy: Make a Venn Diagram. In the overlapping area, list characteristics shared
by both subjects. Then, in one oval list the characteristics of one subject not shared
by the other in the other oval, list unshared characteristics of the second subject.
1.7 DISTINGUISHING FACT FROM OPINION
FACTS are vents, dates, statistics, or statements that can be proved to be true Facts
can be checked for accuracy. OPINIONS are judgments, beliefs, and feelings of the
writer or speaker.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Find Clues in the Text. The chart summarizes the facts and opinions.
1. Facts: Look for specific names. dates, statistics, and statements that can be proved.
The first two paragraphs provide a factual account of the event.
2. Opinion: Look for assertions, claims, hypotheses, and judgments.
3. Opinion: Look for judgment words that the writer uses to describe the people and
events. Judgment words are often adjectives that are used to arouse a reader's
emotions.
Strategy: Make a Chart. Divide facts and opinions in a chart. Summarize and
separate the facts from the opinions expressed in a passage.

Higher-Order Critical Thinking

2.1 Categorizing
CATEGORIZING means organizing similar kinds of information into groups Historians
categorize m formation to help them identify and understand historical patterns.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Decide what Information Needs to be Categorized. As you read look for
facts and details that are closely related. Then choose appropriate categories.
1. Look at topic sentences for clues to defining categories.
2. Look at the type of information each paragraph contains. A paragraph often
contains similar kinds of information.
Strategy: Make A Chart.
1. Add a title.
2. Sort information into the categories you have chosen.
3. Make one column for each category.

2.2 MAKING INFERENCES

Inferences are ideas and meanings not stated in the material. MAKING INFERENCES
means reading between the lines to extend the information provided. Your
inferences are based on careful study of what is stated in the passage as well as your
own common sense and previous knowledge.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Develop Inferences from the Facts.
1. Recognize inferences that are already made.
2. Use your knowledge, logic and common sense to draw conclusions.
3. Consider what you already know that could apply.
4. Recognize inferences that are already made.
Strategy: Make a Chart. Summarize the facts and inferences you make in chart.

2.3 DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS means analyzing what you have read and forming an
opinion about its meaning. To draw conclusions, you look closely at the facts,
combine them with inferences you make, and then use your own come and
experience to decide what the facts means.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Combine Information to Draw Conclusions. The diagram that follows
shows how to organize the information to draw conclusions.
1. Read carefully to understand all the facts.
2. Read between the lees to make inferences.
3. Use the facts to make an inference.
4. Ask questions of the material.
Strategy: make a diagram. Summarize the facts, inferences, and your conclusion in a
diagram.

2.4 DEVELOPING HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

DEVELOPING HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE means understanding events and people in
the cost of then times. It means not judging the past by current values, but by taking
into account the beliefs of the time.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Look for Values of the Past.
1. Identify the historical figure. the occasion, and the date.
2. Look for clues to the attitudes, customs, and values of people living at the time.
3. Explain how people's actions and words reflected the attitudes, values, and
passions of the era.
4. Notice words, phrases, and settings that reflect the period.
Strategy: Write A Summary.
In a chart list keywords, phrases, and details from the passage.
2.5 FORMULATING HISTORICAL QUESTIONS
FORMULATING HISTORICAL QUESTIONS important as you examine primary sources-
firsthand accounts, documents, letters and other records of the past. As you analyze
a source, ask questions about what it means and why it is significant. Then, when
you are doing research, write questions that you want your research to answer. This
step will help to guide your research and organize the information you collect.
Understanding the Skill
Strategy: Question What You Read. After the passage is a web diagram that
organizes historical questions about it.
1. Ask about the historical record itself. Who produced it? when was it produced?
2. Ask about the facts presented. Who were the man people? What did they do?
What were they like?
3. Ask about the person who created the record. What judgments or opinions does
the author express?
4. Ask about the significance of the record. How would you interpret the information
presented? How does it fit in with the history of this time and place? What more do
you need to know to answer these questions?
Strategy: Make a Web Diagram.
Investigate a topic in more depth by asking questions. Ask a large question and then
ask smaller questions that explore and develop from the larger question