Making AnnotationsMarking & Annotating text

What does annotate mean? Annotate means to “note down”

Annotate—verbto supply (a written work, such as an ancient text) with critical or explanatory notes

So, YOU as a reader, write down notes as you read. (usually in the margin next to the text)

Annotating text an effective strategy for several reasons… Annotation helps you:

1. Reduce information 2. Organize information. 3. Identify key Concepts 4. Monitor your learning

Why annotate?

Annotating text is a way to record your interactions (thoughts) with written information.

Making annotation turns passive reading into an effective study strategy.

Marking a textbook while reading is the beginning of helping your brain organize information and process what you are learning.

Annotating is documenting your active reading process… In general, your annotations will zero in on key

details and the central or main idea of a passage. You will usually make these notes in the margins

of your text. You can highlight or underline key words,

phrases, and sentences. You can put check marks and asterisks (*) next to

important words or passages. You can also draw lines and arrows to make

connections

So, all I need is a highlighter?

Wrong!

Highlighting alone, is not sufficient.

Highlighting is basically coloring college style.

Use all the pretty colored pens & markers you want, but in order to ANNOTATE you need to write your thoughts in your own words.

Highlighting in NOT annotating!

Four Main Types of Annotations

1. Restatement 2. Questioning 3. Compare/Contrast4. Challenging Ideas

Restatement As you read a section think about what is important in that section. In the margin, write the main idea in your own words.

Sample TextJohnson’s vision of the Great Society extended the broader quality of life in the United States. Health care was perhaps the most fundamental issue for citizens’ sense of personal security. After 1965, the new Medicare system paid for the medical needs of Americans aged sixty-five and older, and Medicaid underwrote health care services for the indigent.

Annotation

LBJ envisioned a ‘Great Society’ . His idea focused on health care. Two programs in his vision to improve quality of life were:

1. Medicare for 65 & older 2. Medicaid for the poor

Compare/Contrast (Connection)As you read look for ways the content relates to you. It can be similar in some

way or different.

Text

False confessions are another leading cause of wrongful convictions. Twenty-five percent of cases involve a false confession or incriminating statement made by the defendant. Of those cases 35% were 18 or under and/or developmentally disabled.

Annotation

(Compare) – This reminds me of a video I saw on a Va. man who was part of the Innocence Project, he was coerced into a confession and wrongly imprisoned for 8 years.

QuestioningBe aware of concepts, words, and terms you do not understand. Make note of them so that you can clarify later.

Sample Text“…It appears that the commonwealth has again made a poor decision concerning green power. Cape Wind is an economic boondoggle. Let me get this right: Martha Coakley, the attorney general, stated an estimated savings of $217 million over four years.”

Annotation

What is meant by an economic boondoggle?

Why does the author see saving money a poor decision?

Challenging IdeasKeep an eye out for inconsistencies in theory, data, studies, or information that just doesn’t sit right with your understanding.

Sample Text“…In this way, the decree indeed was based on racial criteria, though it did not imitate the application of racialist principles to the Jews. “Pure Jews” were the incarnation of evil and the archenemy of mankind but Mischlinge, being only partly Jewish was, were treated somewhat less severely. In regard to the Gypsies, it was the other way around. Mishlinge were considered the bad element and pure Gypsies considered less of a threat….”

Annotation

Isn’t that somewhat contradictory? Why is it better to be part Jewish than part Gypsy? Or better to be Pure Gypsy but not Pure Jewish? Seems like inconsistent logic….if you are going to make a law based on race shouldn’t it be consistent?

Other types of information you can annotate….

Definitions Examples Predicted test questions People. Dates, places, or events Numbered lists or characteristics Relationship between concepts

(cause/effect. Compare/contrast) Graphs, charts, diagrams