1. Pamela M. Santerre
University of New England
EDU742
November 6, 2011

3. Getting Started


Activity


Last night, you were asked to read
“The Most Dangerous Game” by
Richard Connell & write a short written
response.
There are different ways good readers
respond to a text
Reread your response and choose
one sentence to share with the class.
What category of response would you
and your classmate’s response fit
into?

4. Ways Good Readers
Respond to a Text
Make Connections
 Ask Questions
 Make Predictions
 Draw Conclusions using Evidence
 State Opinions
 Analyze the way the author writes
 Reflect on the Content
 Reflect on the Reading Process


5. Activity
Create a poster of the ways good readers respond to a
text. This poster should be on computer paper, so that
you can keep in your Language Arts binder to refer to as
you read.
To Self
Ask
Questions
Make
Predictions
Analyze the
writing style
To world
events
Make
Connections
To other texts
(books, TV
shows, songs,
movies,
artwork, etc.)

7. Good readers pay attention to their
thoughts while they’re reading

Scientists call this being “metacognitive,” which
means “thinking about our thoughts.”

While reading ,if we pay attention to
◦
◦
◦
◦
questions we have
things we find strange or confusing
things we connect with
things we like
we will be able to understand
the story and better understand
how and why we get confused

8. Annotation



Strategy that readers use to be
metacognitive.
Annotation means writing down your
thoughts of what you’re reading as you read
Short comments in the margins of the book,
not long paragraphs
Good readers annotate to:
 Identify important information
 Record connections
 Ask questions
 Interpret ideas

9. Miss Santerre being metacognitive while
reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
I predict that Harry
Potter will catch
the snitch and win
the Quidditch
game for
Gryffindor
Professor Snape
doesn’t have many
friends because he
never sits with the
other teachers in
the Great Hall
during dinner
I wonder if Ron
has a crush on
Hermione. Does
Hermione like him
back?

10. Annotating Text Bookmark
Before Reading





Examine the front and back covers (books)
Read the title and subtitles
Examine the illustrations
Examine the print (bold, italics, etc)
Examine the way the text is set up (book, short story, diary, dialogue, article, etc)
Mark in the text
 Characters 

When (setting) 

Where (setting) 
Unfamiliar Words ?
 Important Information

During Reading
Write in the margins
 Summarize
 Make predictions
 Formulate opinions
 Make connections
 Ask questions
 Analyze the way the author writes
 Write reflections/reactions/comments
 Look for patterns/repetitions
After Reading




Reread annotations—draw conclusions
Reread introduction and conclusion—try to figure out something new
Examine patterns/repetitions—determine possible meanings
Determine what the title might mean
Adapted from Porter-O’Donnell (2004)

11. Practice
“The Lottery” by Shirley
Jackson
While I read the first page of
the story aloud, follow
along and use the
symbols on the bookmark
to mark information.

12. Annotating Text Bookmark
Before Reading





Examine the front and back covers (books)
Read the title and subtitles
Examine the illustrations
Examine the print (bold, italics, etc)
Examine the way the text is set up (book, short story, diary, dialogue, article, etc)
During Reading
Write in the margins
Mark in the text
 Summarize
 Characters 
 Make predictions
 When (setting) 
 Formulate opinions
 Make connections
 Where (setting) 
 Ask questions
 Unfamiliar Words ?
 Analyze the way the author writes
 Important quotations or passages 
 Write reflections/reactions/comments
 Important Information
 Look for patterns/repetitions
After Reading




Reread annotations—draw conclusions
Reread introduction and conclusion—try to figure out something new
Examine patterns/repetitions—determine possible meanings
Determine what the title might mean
Adapted from Porter-O’Donnell (2004)

13. 
Take a few moments to add
marks you may have missed.
◦ Who would like to share what
they marked?
◦ Did anyone make any comments
in the margins?

Go back and make at least
one comment in the margins.

14. What if I can’t write in the book?
You should NOT write in
a book borrowed from
the school, library, or a
friend.
But…
You can make your
marks and write your
thoughts on sticky
notes, and then stick it
on the correct page!

15. No matter what type of annotation
you use, remember…
You are being metacognitive; you are
thinking about your thoughts
By keeping track of your thoughts
while you read, you will have a
clearer picture in your mind of what is
happening in the story and who the
characters are.
Because annotating slows your
reading down, you will discover and
uncover ideas you would not have
discovered otherwise.
However, the time it takes to read a
piece once and annotate is less than
the time it takes to reread several
times.

17. Resources
Daniels, H., & Zemelman, S. (2004). Subjects matter: Every teacher’s guide to
content-area reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Jackson, Shirley. The lottery. Retrieved from http://www.jeanloupbenet.com/
lottery.pdf
O’Shaughnessy, K. (2001). Everything I know about teaching language arts I
learned at an office supply store. The Quarterly, 23(2). Retrieved from
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/147
Porter-O’Donnell, C. (2004). Beyond the yellow highlighter: teaching annotation
skills to improve reading comprehension. English Journal, 93(5), 8289.