Ellen Carillo & Alice Horning
Volume 4
Chapter Description
Because reading and writing are related interpretive practices, attending to critical reading is an important part of teaching writing. This chapter defines critical reading and offers students strategies for undertaking a specific kind of critical reading, namely reading for credibility, particularly of online sources. The chapter gives examples of the importance of reading for credibility in a variety of situations, including one’s day-to-day life and while engaged in academic projects. Specifically, students are introduced to what is called “lateral reading,” an approach that helps students determine a source’s credibility by leaving the source and seeing what is said about it elsewhere on the Web. To support this approach, the chapter provides definitions of misinformation and disinformation, addresses the difference between primary and secondary sources, and teaches students the importance of recognizing bias in sources and in themselves.
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