Mr. Bearden's English and Language Arts

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Although a lot of students don't realize it, reading and writing are two of the most important skills we can teach in school.

Obviously, most students make it to high school already able to read, but reading skills are a lot more complicated than just being able to look at words on a page and say them out loud.

Critical reading is the ability to:

• read the words on the page,
• understand what they mean,
• and decide whether the ideas on the page make sense.

That last point is hugely important. These days, everyone from politicians (on both sides of the aisle) to news agencies (with a variety of agendas) are trying to fool their audiences into believing things that either aren't true at all, or are only true from a certain point of view. Therefore, critical reading also includes:

• deciding WHY the author wrote what he or she did,
• understanding what effect the author wants to have on his or her reader,
• and making a thoughtful decision about which parts (if any) you should pay attention to.

It doesn't matter to your teachers what your opinions are, as long as they are YOUR opinions - ideas that you've thought about carefully instead of just repeating what other people have told you.

Welcome aboard!