Discovering the Voices of Multiethnic Literature through Critical Reading and Discussion.

Although children often receive classroom opportunities to retell and summarize information, they must also learn how to critically examine what they read. Critical reading of multiethnic literature helps children develop understanding, respect, and value for the diverse cultures and people in the world. This paper discusses the value of integrating critical reading and discussion activities with multiethnic literature. The paper uses simulations of three critical literacy activities which were selected because they are effective for teaching critical thinking in intermediate and middle grades. The paper's first activity involves teaching students to ask their own questions about the social assumptions authors used when composing their texts, while the second activity, "Inquiry Charts," provides a visual display of information that is gathered from several sources, and the third activity, "Dialogic Thinking," is a discussion strategy that helps students understand different points of view about a topic. Includes a bibliography of 81 selected works of multiethnic literature. (Contains sample activity charts for 4 activities.) (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.