Critical Reading & Reasoning Skills

• Critical reading is presented as reasoning, focusing on reading and writing skills.
• Students should explain critical reading as reasoning, formulate evaluative statements about a text read, and determine textual evidence to validate assertions and counterclaims.

Reasoning Skill Challenge Activity

• The class is to be divided into three groups, with approximately 12 members each.
• Reasoning skills are to be tested by convincing the judge through reasons based on an assigned situation and topic.
• Teacher-provided, three sets of situations will require groups to take turns as judges and participants.
• For example, in the first situation, group 1 will be the judge, with groups 2 and 3 giving their reasons.
• Each group has ten minutes for brainstorming in each situation.
• One to two speakers per group will present their reasons to the judges.
• The judge gives their judgment based on provided materials and reasons presented by the group.

Practical Application Scenarios

• First Situation: Anna wants to have a movie date with her family, which genre is better to watch? Group 2 advocates for horror movies, Group 3 defends romantic movies, and Group 1 judges.
• Second Situation: Juan craves sweets, which is better for him to eat? Group 1 argues for chocolates, Group 3 suggests fruits, and Group 2 judges.
• Third Situation: Kai wants to go on a vacation, which tourist destination is better? Group 1 proposes Palawan, Group 2 suggests Boracay, and Group 3 judges.

Questions to Consider

• Participants should consider their feelings during the activity and how they arrived at their reasons.
• Judges should consider how they made sound judgments.

Critical Reading As Reasoning

• Critical reading enhances understanding by examining the text beyond its surface.
• It studies the composition thoroughly, identifying inconsistencies, oversights, limitations, and arguments often missed.

Goals of Critical Reading

• Prentice Hall has enumerated critical reading skills.
• The critical reading skills include distinguishing fact from opinion, identifying the author's purpose, making inferences, recognizing the author's tone, recognizing persuasive techniques.

Reasoning Defined

• Reasoning, per Merriam-Webster, involves giving statements for justification and explanation.
• It is the ability to defend something with reasons.
• Reasoning in reading equips one to decide whether to accept or reject the writer’s argument, position, opinion, or conclusion.

Steps in Critical Reading as Reasoning

• Identifying assertions
• Formulating a counterclaim
• Determining textual evidence

Assertions

• An assertion is a strong declaration as a stylistic approach regarding a belief or fact, often without proof.
• After considering facts through critical reading and thinking, an assertion is the clear conclusion.

Types of Assertion

• Statement of fact
• Statement of opinion
• Statement of convention
• Statement of preference

Statement of Fact

• Statement can be proven objectively through direct experience, witness testimonies, verified observations, or research results.
• For example, the statement that the sampaguita’s roots are used medicinally as an anesthetic and a sedative is a fact.
• It can be directly verified by experience or reliable research reports.

Statement of Opinion

• Opinions based on facts are difficult to verify objectively due to challenges in producing satisfactory proofs of soundness.
• The perception that sampaguita flowers are most evident in places of worship is an opinion.
• It is based on an observation needing studies for proof, involving many factors that make explicit judgment difficult.

Statement of Convention

• A convention is a way something is typically done, like traditions and norms, dependent on historical precedent, laws, rules, usage, and customs.
• The classification of the sampaguita within the genus Jasminum and family Oleaceae.
• It is a convention based on a classification system made by scientists and accepted by the scientific community.

Statement of Preference

• Preferences are based on personal choice, they are subjective and not objectively proven or logically challenged.
• "Sampaguitas are the most beautiful and most fragrant of all flowers" is a preference.
• This statement is a preference because it expresses the writer's liking for a type of flower, rather than comparing qualities objectively to other flowers.

Formulating a Meaningful Counterclaim

• A counterclaim is an opposition made to an author’s claim.
• Counterclaims are important to evaluate an author's claim well.
• They allow examining the claim from various viewpoints, rather than merely accepting it.
• Acknowledge the significance of hedges when presenting counterclaims

Formulating a Meaningful Counterclaim through Response in the Text Read

• A hedge is a word or phrase minimizing negative impact of criticism.
• Hedge can act as a courteous tone in writing, it is used when presenting a counterclaim and providing criticism since the claim is stated as untrue.

Determining Textual Evidence

• Validating the claim needs the support of the evidences presented.

Evidence

• Evidence includes details by the author to support their claim.
• Evidence provided substantiates what has been written.
• It unveils and elaborates the writer's viewpoint, enhancing reading.

Types of Evidence

• Evidence includes facts and statistics, which are objectively validated on the subject.
• Include opinions from experts as leading authorities on a topic, like academics and researchers.
• Include personal anecdotes that are generalizable, relevant, and objectively considered.

Characteristics of Good Evidence

• unified
• relevant to the central point
• specific
• concrete
• accurate
• representative/typical

Explore critical reading as reasoning. This resource focuses on developing reading and writing skills. Learn to formulate evaluative statements and use textual evidence to support claims and counterclaims.