Enhancing Critical Reading through writing: Teachers‟ Guide

Abstract

A booklet was designed as a guide for teachers and eighth-semester pre-service teachers, in a public university in Tunja (Colombia), on the usage of five strategies to enhance critical reading through writing. A needs analysis to assess seventh and eighth-semester pre-service teachers were previously conducted, and the results revealed low levels of reading comprehension, as well as having a lack of different critical reading strategies. The booklet has five units with its corresponding theoretical and pedagogical support as well as worksheets for each lesson, assessment rubrics, and spaces for analysis and reflection. For the worksheet design, ten guidelines for material development, suggested by Howard and Major, were taken into account; a framework proposed by McLaughlin and Allen was implemented for the pedagogical procedure design. Finally, self-assessment, peer-assessment, and Gibbs‟s reflective cycle are suggested for learners‟ reflection by the end of each unit; this reflection is done in terms of monitoring students‟ own progress, their insights, strengths, and weaknesses when fostering critical reading through writing.