Patti Gage and Althea Danielski Saint Paul College CRLA Conference 2014

 Highlighting in the text  Making comments in the margins  Marking text  Talking to the text

 Making meaning from a text by interacting with it and noting your interaction on the page (i.e. Talking to the Text).

Students…  Read actively  Find and focus on the main ideas  Understand and turn the main ideas into workable knowledge  Create personal study guides & summaries Teachers…  Can use it as an assessment tool

1. Preview/survey the text, noticing the title, headings, subheadings, visual aids, key words, etc. 2. Read through once quickly to get an idea of what the text is about and how it is organized. 3. Start reading carefully, working section by section as you annotate.

1. Make up questions 2. Highlight/underline the main ideas in each section 3. Paraphrase the main ideas 4. Mark major supporting details 5. Circle vocabulary and define 6. Note any personal reactions 7. Be selective: Stay focused on the main ideas and answers to your questions

 Have students read an excerpt from a textbook  Do a “think-aloud” to demonstrate an annotation on an overhead projector

Compare these two versions of an annotation. Share with a partner:  What do you notice about them?  Which one do you think is better, and why?

Individual  Weak students may struggle  Some students may tune out  Some learners may not be able to form effective questions  Some may have trouble focusing on main ideas & highlight too much  Some may not be able to paraphrase Individual  Weak students may struggle  Some students may tune out  Some learners may not be able to form effective questions  Some may have trouble focusing on main ideas & highlight too much  Some may not be able to paraphrase Group  Weaker students learn and gain confidence  Students must participate actively  The dialogue that students have in their group mirrors the kind interaction we want our students to have with the text  Promotes deeper learning  Fosters learning through multiple perspectives Group  Weaker students learn and gain confidence  Students must participate actively  The dialogue that students have in their group mirrors the kind interaction we want our students to have with the text  Promotes deeper learning  Fosters learning through multiple perspectives

1. Get into groups 2. Choose a writer/scribe 3. As a group, go through the annotation steps 4. Negotiate with your group members: the scribe will do the group’s writing

1. Make up questions 2. Highlight/underline the main ideas in each section 3. Paraphrase the main ideas 4. Mark major supporting details 5. Circle vocabulary and define 6. Note any personal reactions 7. Be selective: Stay focused on the main ideas and answers to your questions

 Hang up your annotation on the wall.  Get one peer evaluation form for your group.  As a group, evaluate another group’s annotation.  Post your evaluation.  Go back to see how other groups evaluated your work.  If time, look at the other annotations.

 How did it go? Do you think your group produced a good annotation?  What was difficult about the negotiation process?  What was helpful about the negotiation process?

 Do you teach annotation?  How do you teach it?  What’s working? What’s not working?

Please fill out an evaluation form and help us make our workshop even better. Thanks and happy teaching!