Active Reading Skills, based on the premise students learn best by doing, teaches essential reading and thinking skills using concise instruction, guided practice, extensive application, and feedback.

 Each of the twelve chapters focuses on a specific reading skill and includes instruction, practice exercises, quizzes, and mastery tests. Because the skill instruction is brief, students spend more time applying the skills through extensive practice.  The actual instruction and exercise format were designed to accommodate a variety of learning styles to reach students.

I. IMPROVING YOUR SKILLS.

1. Reading Actively.

Keys to Academic Success.

Read and Learn Actively.

Preview Before Reading.

Use Guide Questions.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Diversity in U.S. Families.”

2. Using Context and Word Parts.

What is Context?

Types of Context Clues.

What Are Word Parts?

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Unfair Advantage.”

3. Locating Main Ideas.

What Is a Main Idea?

Understanding General Versus Specific.

Identifying the Topic.

Finding the Main Idea.

Finding the Central Thought.

Learn More About Paragraphs.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Environmental Racism.”

4. Identifying Details and Transitions.

What Are Supporting Details?

Recognizing Transitions.

Putting It All Together.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Talking A Stranger Through the Night.”

5. Understanding Implied Main Ideas.

What Does Implied Mean?

Remembering General Vs. Specific.

How to Find Implied Main Ideas in Paragraphs.

Working With Paragraphs.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Sex and Symmetry.”

6. Keeping Track of Information.

Why Keep Track of Information?

Highlighting and Marking.

Outlining.

Mapping.

Summarizing.

Good Reasons to Keep Track Of Information.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Personal Safety Online.”

7. Recognizing Patterns I.

What Are Patterns of Organization?

Combining Patterns of Organization.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Animals at Play,” (Textbook Excerpt).

8. Recognizing Patterns II.

Comparison/Contrast Patterns.

Other Useful Patterns.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “The Mind-Body Connection.”

9. Reading Critically: Inferences and Author's Purpose.

What Is Inference?

Understanding Author's Purpose.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “If Our Son is Happy, What Else Matters?”

10. Reading Critically: Fact and Opinion.

Is It Fact or Opinion?

Mixing Fact and Opinion.

Evaluating Fact and Opinion.

Informed Opinion.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Canine Candy Stripers.”

11. Reading Critically: Tone and Bias.

Tone.

Bias.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “Explaining Away Hate.”

12. Reading Arguments.

What is an Argument?

Parts of an Argument.

Questions for Evaluating Arguments.

Errors in Logical Reasoning.

Arguments in Academic Writing.

Reading Selection (Mastery Test 3) “ANWAR Oil: An Alternative to War over Oil.”

II. Student Resource Guide.

Resource A: Learning from Textbooks

Resource B: Test-taking Strategies: A Review

Resource C: Reading and Evaluating Internet Sources

Resource D: Real-World Reading Strategies

III. CURRENT ISSUES READER.

1 “His Name is Michael”

From Education Week by Donna M. Marriot

2 “The High Cost of Being Poor”

From AlterNet by Barbara Ehrenreich

3 “Hold It Right There, And Drop That Camera”

From New York Times by Jo Napolitano

4 “Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice”

From Government in America by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert by P. Lineberry

5 “Air Pollution and Global Warming”

From Social Problems by James H. Henslin

6 “The Biodiversity Crisis”

From Essential Biology with Physiology by Neil A. Campbell, Jane B. Reece, and Eric J. Simon