Critical reading and writing relies on the development of intentional skills.  Critical reading requires that you drill down into the intention of the writer in order to discern the thoughts, ideas, feelings, and message the writer sought to convey.  When you read critically, you are able to engage more meaningfully to the material and better interpret text to make rich mental connections.  

Critical reading is the bridge to help you develop your writing skills.  What you write for college courses needs to be accurate, logical, carefully reasoned, and thoughtfully crafted.  College-level writing is more structured and formal than most of your daily writing. For example, writing a paper for this class follows a much different process than writing an e-mail or text message to your best friend.

All four Learning Patterns contribute to excellent writing and you will need to focus on those Patterns you Avoid as strongly as those you Use First. Practice the critical reading strategies in Chapter 3 and deeply read the stories of Makayla, John, Paul, and Raheem in Section 3.3. (Using your Learning Patterns to Master Critical Writing).

1. For each of the four learners, provide two to three sentences of advice for how they could have field-fitted their Learning Patterns for their specific situation.  For example, Makayla was ruled by her Sequence.  What would you recommend that she do to overcome her overdependence on Sequence when approaching writing tasks? 
2. Considering the stories of the learners from Chapter 3 and reflecting on your own unique Learning Patterns, what challenges may you experience as you approach college-level reading and writing assignments?  Identify at least three strategies that you read about in Chapter 3 or the Instructor Guidance that can help you overcome these challenges. 

Your initial post should contain a minimum of 250 words.

Response to Peers:  Review your classmates’ posts and respond to at least two, each with a minimum of 50 words.  Compare and contrast how your Learning Patterns influence your approach to college-level writing assignments with your peer.  Provide suggestions for how they can better field-fit their Learning Patterns when approaching written assignments.  

TIPS:
This discussion is asking you to do four things:

1. Read the four learner stories from section 3.3 of Chapter 3.  Provide advice to each learner that could have helped them “field-fit” their Patterns more successfully (part a). 
2. Reflect on and explain challenges you may face (based on your Learning Patterns) as you approach college-level reading and writing assignments (part b).
3. List three strategies you read about in Chapter 3 or the Instructor Guidance that could help you overcome challenges (part b).
4. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ discussion posts.  Use the “Response to Peers” to assist you with your reply.

Type a heading for each section (e.g., My Advice for Makayla, John, Paul, and Raheem), and then write the information under each heading in complete sentences. This helps the reader quickly identify each section and helps you know that you have covered all of the requirements for this post.