Studies show only 20 to 40 percent of students read assigned texts and are prepared for class discussions. To address this issue we created the "3-2-1 Reading Assignment," in which students engage in critical reading and deep learning by providing "three" points that summarize the text, "two" points that analyze it, and "one" discussion question. In order to assess the effectiveness of this technique, we conducted a content analysis of 1,511 student assignments. We found that the use of this technique led to gradual increases in students' ability to summarize and analyze readings as well as formulate higher-order questions.