Organized around high-interest contemporary themes, A Community of Readers presents college-level reading skills in the context of current and real-life issues relevant to students. A Community of Readers offers guided, in-depth instruction in all segments of the reading and learning process: reading, discussing, writing, and critical thinking. The authors use a unique system to teach the reading process called PRO (Prepare to Read, Read Actively and Reflect, and Organize to learn), which gives students a concrete learning device to follow. Each chapter introduces a key reading skill (main idea, vocabulary, inference), with all readings in that chapter centered on the same theme; this thematic organization helps students develop schema while improving their reading skills. The Fourth Edition emphasizes basic reading skills as well as higher level, critical reading skills, examining fact and opinion, understanding bias, and thinking critically.