What Are the Best Tips for Critical Reading Practice?

Often, tips for getting practice with critical reading focus on the use of materials designed specifically for this purpose, many of which can be found online. Getting critical reading practice doesn't always mean a person has to obtain a test or resource specifically aimed at practicing though. Some tips simply recommend reading more as a way to get practice. Additionally, incorporating writing with this type of practice can prove helpful.

Sometimes tips for getting critical reading practice recommend that a person obtain practice tests used to prepare for standardized exams. For example, tests intended to assess students' readiness for college often provide critical reading questions, including those focused on reading comprehension and sentence completion. With a sentence completion question, a person must use clues from a sentence to evaluate which word will best finish the sentence. Reading comprehension questions, on the other hand, usually involve reading a small passage and then answering questions concerning it.

A person may also benefit from using writing to learn how to better focus on and evaluate the points presented in reading material. To accomplish this, a person will usually need to choose and read challenging but interesting material. After reading it, he can analyze what he read in a written essay. For instance, his critical reading practice may include choosing a couple of main points in the reading material and comparing and contrasting them. Alternatively, he may write an essay that opposes or supports one of the assertions in the reading material.

Often, a person can also find worksheets and interactive drills that help him improve reading skills online. These resources typically require a person to read a passage and then pinpoint its main idea and supporting arguments. Sometimes these resources also help a person improve his vocabulary, which can help with critical reading. Additionally, a person might find online resources that help him identify how a writer uses grammar choices to get his point across.

An individual can practice critical reading with any type of reading material, but many people find it helpful to include nonfiction passages. For example, a person may get critical reading practice by reading non-fiction and evaluating the point and purpose of the material he chooses as well as any evidence the writer presented. He might, for instance, determine that a passage doesn't provide any evidence to support the writer's statements and decide that the passage is mostly the writer's point of view rather than factual.

While many critical reading practice sheets can be found online, they can also be provided by a tutor. An online reading tutor can also go through these passages with you and help you identify any particular problems you may be struggling with.