Reading can be a struggle. Actually, everyone has always struggled with reading. We’ve only been doing it for a couple of hundred years as a species. The issue is, that when we are taught reading in high school, decoding, comprehension and analysis tend to be all bundled together. So, a student is expected to be able to read a text, understand and infer what it is trying to say, and then be able to provide an analysis of the effect or maybe even evaluate it’s quality. The problem is, what if you’re still trying to work out what the text is saying when you’re being asked to provide an analysis of the effect of it on the audience?
I know what the effect is – the audience is confused!
That’s why it’s important to have an understanding of the different levels of reading we engage in and to be able to honestly assess where you are at when reading a text so you can employ the appropriate strategy needed in order to move into the next level. Sometimes we need to decrease the level of reading we are engaging in when the complexity of a text increases so that we can identify and describe key information before we begin to analyse. Our Read-think Rethink model is based on three layers of reading:
- Active Reading
- Strategic Reading
- Critical Reading
We develop our reading skills as we increase the level of complexity of the texts we read. So for most of us, as what we are reading gets harder, we are also trying to do higher order thinking with the content. The issue is that eventually we find a text too complex and we are still trying to do really complex thinking. What we should be doing is decoding the information by identifying and describing key words and phrases rather than forming opinions (they can come later).
It’s why we talk about the layers of reading rather than levels. Reading isn’t a staircase that you climb up, it involves layers that you sometimes need to peel back in order to find meaning. It’s only then that you can increase those layers and build the complexity of your ideas.
Now this is different to ‘levels’ as you may have seen before in English – those levels tend to do with the complexity of the vocabulary or the challenge of the ideas. When we talk about levels, we are talking about levels of thinking and every student can layer these levels on top of each other in order to become critical readers.
This approach can help everybody. If you are an HSC student struggling to engage with a prescribed text or a Year 8 student who can’t work out why NAPLAN questions seems so hard to answer, the Read-Think Rethink model will assist you to assess your level of engagement with the text and build the skills to provide a critical response that demonstrates your capacity for critical thinking!
The infographic to the left gives a basic outline of the overall approach. I’ll provide a brief overview of the different stages of reading below to help you reflect on where you might be getting stuck and consider what strategies you can use to move forward. Our FREE course “Rethink Reading: How to Improve Your Critical Reading Skills” provides you with the ability to apply the skills we discuss in this post.
First Reading: Active
Active reading involves engaging with the language in the text and identifying and describing key words and challenging phrases. It primarily focuses on decoding for meaning and summarising key ideas. It’s the basis of any effective understanding of a text.
Second Reading: Strategic
Strategic reading requires the basics of active reading then the ability to think about the most valuable examples that demonstrate your interpretation of the text. This involves explaining your understanding by annotating important examples and reflecting on their effect.
Third Reading: Critical
Critical reading is a highly reflective approach that includes connecting existing knowledge and other texts with the information you are reading. This is a must for developing critical writing as it engages your ability to evaluate the text in front of you so you can appreciate it’s value in light of the other texts you’ve read or studied. All students can achieve this level of reading if they are supported to develop the skills to actively decode and strategically seek information when they are reading.
If you’d like more resources and ideas please have a look at our online courses or get in contact for a tutoring session!
RETHINK LEARNING 
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