This lesson expands on Critically Thinking Reading I by developing students' extended reasoning skills. In this complete lesson, students are guided through 5 interactive exercises to learn about inferences, assumptions, evidence and conclusion, as they are used in the Reading portion of the redesigned SAT and PSAT. This skill set is also relevant to the optional Essay now offered on the redesigned SAT. The lesson begins with a logic puzzle designed to introduce the concept of inference and after 3 interactive learning modules, the students finish with a full-length SAT-style passage that addresses the exact type of extended reasoning questions asked on the redesigned SAT and PSAT. A grayscale student worksheet packet is included, which can be easily printed or reproduced, this is followed by a 25-page detailed guide for the Teacher/Facilitator.

This is a complete, self-contained lesson, designed for use in a classroom environment in which students are preparing for the reading portion of Redesigned PSAT and SAT tests that will be administered for the first time in the 2015-2016 academic year. The lesson plan consists of 5 different interactive exercises presented in 2 sections. The first section is in black & white so that it may be easily reproduced for distribution to the class allowing each student to work through the problems. The second section is a step-by-step guide for the teacher to facilitate an interactive discussion of the exercises and assist the students in developing the crucial higher-order critical thinking skills needed for success in SAT and PSAT Reading.

This activity is designed to develop some of the higher-order critical thinking skills needed for success on all sections of the ACT, the Redesigned SAT (and the redesigned PSAT) tests. The interactive exercise teaches students several key logical reasoning and comprehension skills: to read with better comprehension, to notate effectively and to make valid, logical deductions.