There are many different ways to annotate a text. Here is one strategy that can lead to more success. Dialectical Notes and Sticky Notes
Supplies Needed: Sticky Notes or Tabs (Small)
While you read:
To begin, read the assigned text. As you read use sticky notes to quickly document important/ meaningful moments in the assigned text. You are looking for quotes that speak to the focus questions on the Pacing Guide. Use the following marks on the sticky notes to denote these quotes/passages: ! – Important/ meaningful moments in the text ? – Important moments that make you question the text * - Important Moment to the text and beyond
Post-reading: Once you have finished reading, open your course Notebook (not your Writer's Notebook) and divide a sheet of paper into two columns. Next, go through the assigned reading that you just used sticky notes to annotate, and begin recording important quotes in the left hand column. After you have recorded a quote, write a reaction to that quote in the right hand column.
Your reaction can include questions the quote raises, how the quote is an example of a focus question and what it is pointing out, any connections that you can make to the quote, why the quote is meaningful to: author's craft, characterization, or any other literary device, and/or how the quote represents an important moment in the text. These notes will help you gain a deeper understanding of the text.