Annotations by Katherine Schuster

Annotating a Text Step away from that highlighter! Have a conversation with your book. Ask questions Add information you already know Clarify ideas in your own words Summarize ideas in your own words Note important items to remember

Why Annotate? Encourages active instead of passive reading. Helps you put thoughts in your own words. Prevents highlighter “bleeding” all over the page. Restating the information through noting it down helps galvanize the learning. Turns a large amount of information into a manageable amount to study.

How to Annotate? Write in your book – have the conversation with your reading in the margins. You may annotate on paper or on the computer, but you need to note down on which page the annotation should appear – this can be cumbersome when studying but does work for some. If you really don’t want to write in your book – use post-its. Read a section first, think back about it, then annotate. Be sure to use your own words.

What to Annotate? Definitions Examples Predicted test questions People, dates, places, events Numbered lists of information Relationships between concepts Graphs, charts, diagrams Your thoughts, ideas, comments

Annotation Pitfalls “Medieval Monk” syndrome “Nothin’ Here” syndrome Copying word for word “Nothin’ Here” syndrome Too few annotations or just copy headings Focusing on random details as opposed to the main points “Rest of the Story” syndrome Include too little information for the annotation to stand on its own later for study purposes