1. Share the Context & Purpose of the Reading: Add your personal instructor voice by annotating the reading pages to make the reading process more meaningful. Also, include a list of what readings are required and optional.
Examples of comments and critical thinking questions include:
- This reading is important because _____________.
- In this paragraph, pay attention to_____________.
2. Ask an Essential Question About Your Course Topic: Think of the big picture of your course. Essential questions are open-ended and not fact-based or yes/no questions. Rather, essential questions ask students to provide their perspective.
Examples of essential questions include:
- Is there ever a “just” war?
- How strong is the scientific evidence?
3. Jigsaw the Reading into Different Sections: Assign students different sections of the reading and put them into mixed groups of people who read different sections so students can share what they read from their different sections. This way, students don’t have to do extensive reading and can learn from each other.
Examples of creating sections to assign include:
- Different pages/chapters
- Different articles of different perspectives
4. Provide Time In Class to Read Along with & Discussion Prompts: Block out time during your class such as 10 – 20 minutes to allow students to read and give questions they can discuss in small groups and share back with the whole class.
Examples of reflection and discussion questions include:
- How does this reading relate to our course topic?
- How can you apply this learning to your practice and life?
5. Create a Canvas Discussion Board with Required Posts: Assign students to short weekly required posts graded for completion. Provide students with a date to post and another date to respond to 2 classmates posts that don’t have responses yet.
Examples of what to post include:
- Individual post: 1 practical application & 1 wondering - curious to know about
- Post in response to classmate: 1 thing you appreciate & 1 question to consider