The effects of the social studies course, organized for critical reading, on students? critical thinking skills

Critical reading means that a reader reaches to a conclusion through argumentation, questioning, assessment, using his own mind and taking advantages of reliable resources. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the social studies course, which is organized for critical reading, on students? critical thinking skills. In the research study, experimental model, "pre-post test control group design" is preferred.Participants were chosen from the seven grades of the Atlıoğlu Primary School in Ankara, Mamak district in 2009- 2010 academic year. Cornell Critical Thinking Test, Level X was used in this research study as a pre-post test for both experimental and control groups. The content was chosen the unit about ?The bridges Between Countries? in seven grade social studies course. The experimental group was taught by the pattern unity and teacher's guide prepared according to critically reading by the researcher while the control group was taught by the text book and teacher's guide prepared by the Turkish Ministry of Education. Two-factor ANOVA with repeated measures was used to analyze the data related to the sub-aims.The research results show that, the text book prepared according to critically reading has a significant influence on the students? critical thinking skills by comparing to the influence of the text book prepared by the Turkish Ministry of Education. According to the research study, the social studies lessons processed through critically reading have an important contribution to the students.