Analyzing How I Read: Annotations for Anything

I have always been a reader. I am also an equal opportunity reader, and when I say that I mean that I will read anything that someone has said, “hey, I read this book and I think you will like it.” It seems like I read a lot when my students are reading and blogging a lot, because they talk about what they are reading and I get interested. I also seem to read a lot when I am travelling because I can do that when I am riding in the car, staying hotel rooms where there is nothing to do, and on airplanes without WiFi connections.

I tend to read with a pen in my hand. I know it sounds weird, but I am sure that I acquired this habit while college when I was reading so many novels and other books getting my English degree. To this day I still read for pleasure with a pen in my hand. I mark mistakes in the newspapers and magazines I read. I write in the margin of books that own, and I circle words that I either don’t know, or that I think are interesting. I underline sentences and phrases that are interesting, and that if I ever flipped back through the book to show it to someone else to convince them to read it, this is the line they would get hooked with. When I borrow a book from the library to read, I tend to put a small pad of paper in the front of the book so I can write down the same types of things as I read.

So I decided for an assignment with one of my classes, I wanted them to annotate as they read to see what they think about. (I thought it might be more interesting than asking comprehension questions I already know the answers to.) I wanted to show them they can be active readers and not just pretend to soak it in. I explained to the students that as they read there are two paths their brains are taking. On the left side of the brain they are reading the words, phrases, and sentences and figuring out what they saying. (This is the most basic level of reading comprehension.) They are also “reading between the lines” for what is not actually said and the information that is implied. (They understand that part.) Then I explained – or maybe reminded them – that they are also reading from the right side of their brain. They are making connections to their own lives. They are stopping mid thought and making a connection to something they have read, heard, or viewed at some other point in their life. (They are actively reading at this point which is the interesting part.)

So I gave them the book Lord of the Flies as a .txt file (.pdf works too) and they add comments, pictures, videos, definitions, etc. in as they read. More directions for this assignment can be found here: https://mrsbadgley.wikispaces.com/NovelAnnotation . Some of the students have complained that they “don’t think as they read.” They just “get the information” and keep going. In my mind, that is why I needed to do this assignment with them. The really strong readers need to slow down and really process how they are thinking and it helps them find details and nuances of the writing they might not have noticed before. It helps the slower readers to find more meaning in their reading by analyzing what they know, what they don’t really understand (even if it is vocabulary), and reading for more detail. Even with the complaining from the students (who are going to complain no matter what if you pick a novel for them), the class discussions have improved. Their quiz grades are higher and their written assignments are of more quality. They are using quotations from the novel, because they are already flagged…