The article for this CSTP is Don Miguel's book, TheFour Agreements. This book offered an opportunity to investigate the ruling beliefs in our society and in our personal lives. The "Learning Experience" that I planned and implemented for my students was to engage in a critical, close reading of Don Miguel's book while investigating the themes it presents through formal writing as well as informal group discussions in class. During this unit I provided direct instruction on multiple different reading strategies. In our class notebooks students would practice these strategies as we read, and also keep track of important details that they would later include in their writing assignments. The direct instruction of reading strategies provided equitable access to the book for all students, as it allowed all students to engage with the concepts on a deeper level than they would on their own. The use of strategies like 2 page summaries, "question, comment, critique," and main idea vs. detail allowed all of my students to come to our group discussion on common ground. Everyone was looking for the same type of information during the reading, and therefore, everyone was able to mention relevant information during our discussions. These discussions deepened student understanding of the text, and also called for students to make personal connections to the ideas presented. This type of thinking translates directly into better writing, as students are asked to respond the text critically while also connecting it to their lives. For this book, we wrote one paragraph per chapter, and at the end of the book students were asked to create their own 5th agreement for their own lives. Thus, students became better readers while also making personal connections to the content and further investigating their own values and beliefs.