A series of five writing assignments that focus on the critical thinking skills needed for the intelligent reading of political articles that appear in newspapers and popular magazines was developed for use in a political science course at Oakton Community College (Illinois). Each of the assignments begins with a lesson that teaches the specific skills to be used in the reading/writing assignment: (1) distinguishing fact from opinion; (2) determining the author's point of view and how it affects what she/he says; (3) detecting fallacies; (4) comparing and contrasting articles that take different positions on a single issue; and (5) the skill of analyzing and evaluating a given article. In the process of teaching these skills, students are introduced to the research and writing conventions of the political science discipline. All of the assignments are written up, bound, and sold in the bookstore as a required text, which reduces to a minimum the class time required for teaching these skills. Although students tend to grumble about the amount of work, they admit that they find the exercises profitable. (DJR)