This document provides guidance on active reading strategies such as highlighting, annotating, and making marginal notes. It discusses highlighting important information like topic sentences, major details, headings, and key vocabulary. Annotation involves writing brief notes in the margins to connect to the text and clarify understanding. Strategies for annotation include restating information, marking the text with symbols to indicate elements like thesis, main ideas, examples, and questions. Students are encouraged to develop their own system of annotation that works best for their learning and remembering. The document also provides an example of annotating a sample text and questions to consider before annotation.

1. ANNOTATION/
SUMMARY
BY: LALINDA STREET
Developmental Reading - DVR 0061

2. VisualConnection
Does the cover art
ever influence what
books you read?
What does this
cover imply about
the novel?
Why do books for
adults readers
seldom have
illustrations?
Do you create
pictures in your
mind when you
read?
How else do you
interact with text
you read? Do you
ever write notes in
textbooks as you
read?

3. Manage Your College Reading:
Highlight, Annotate, and Make Marginal
Notes
• Highlighting – Annotating - Marginal Notes are
three active reading strategies that ask you to
think and make decisions as you read

4. Steps for Marking a text
• 1. Preview
• 2. Read
• 3. Determine author’s purpose
• 4. Determine the topic
• 5. Determine the pattern of organization
• 6. Determine the main idea
• 7. Go back and mark the text

5. Highlighting
• Highlighting allows for important information to
stand out, however never highlight too much.
▫ Decide what is important
 Topic sentence and major supporting details
 Highlight all boldface information
 Chapter titles
 Headings
 Subheadings
 Key vocabulary

6. ANNOTATION
• What is Annotation?
 What word is found within Annotation

7. Annotation Introduction
• Annotation means to write a brief, useful notes in your
own words in the margins next to the next. This requires
you to become an active reader
▫ Annotation allows for you to connect to the text on a
personal level. For instances, writing comments such as I
disagree, No way, Amazing etc.
• Read the text and clarify what you need to know
• Reread the portion you need to annotate

8. ANNOTATION
Mark – restating information in the margins and using
symbols
▫ T for thesis; MI for main idea; EX for examples; S for
summary; DEF for definition; 1, 2, 3 for major points; F
for fact; I for opinion; ? For items to be clarified, and *
for important concepts. Underline judiciously.

9. ANNOTATION
• Use marking with annotations to indicate the organization of
ideas. Think about the text structure (ie. examples, cause and
effect, etc.) Your margin annotations will often refer to these
structures.
• Ex. (Examples)
• Causes/Effects
• 1 2 3 etc. to indicate lists, steps, etc.
• Brackets
• Arrows to connect ideas
• 5. Mark TERMS and definitions.
• Def.
• Use circles or boxes to emphasize terms
• 6. Put an * by important information.
• Put a ? By confusing information
• However it is good to create your own marking symbols to
assist with your learning

10. Student’s System of Annotation
Main or key point * ________
Important supporting detail √________
Word to know or define word
Definition of a word Defn.
Numbering of points 1, 2, 3
Questions or confusion ?
Marginal Notes Ex., Def, Cz (cause), Ef (Effects or results)
Topic, Prob
Reread this portion for better understanding R.R.
Definitely a test question T.Q.
I like this idea 
I disagree 

11. ANNOTATION
• As part of the DO stage, determine the
THESIS of the article.
• The thesis may be located near the end of
the introduction or in the concluding
paragraph, or it may be unstated. WRITE
the thesis in your own words at the top of
the reading selection.

12. ANNOTATION
• Determine a MAIN IDEA for each major
paragraph.
• If the main idea is directly stated,
underline it.
• Write MI in the margin beside each main
idea. If a main idea is not directly stated,
write it in your own words in the margin

13. ANNOTATION
• Mark MAJOR SUPPORTING IDEAS.
There are several ways to mark
supporting ideas.
• Use a combination of margin
annotations, symbols, and underlining of
brief phrases.
• (Be careful not to underline too many
details. Too much underlining is worse
than none!)

14. ANNOTATION
• Use ANNOTATIONS to record your thinking:
• Write brief summary notes to emphasize
points made in graphics.
• Write brief answers to your questions in the
margins.
• Make a brief outline of the material in the
margins.
• Summarize important points in your own
words in the margins.
• State the CONCLUSION in your own words at
the end of the article. Write “Conclusion” in the
margin.

15. Annotation (recap continued)
• Note relationship of text structure patterns
• Restate information in graphics
• Tag confusing ideas you need to clarify
• Review your annotation.

16. ANNOTATING – CLASS COMPLETION
• Guided Practice “Report: Teen Birth Rate Hits
Record Low”
• Thinking it Through – Marking A TEXT
▫ Before you begin, answer the following
questions
▫ 1. What is the topic of this article?
▫ 2. How is the article structured
▫ 3. Why did the author write the article?
▫ 4. What is the most important point about the
article?

17. ISSUE PAST 2005 IMPLICATIONS
Teen sexual activity
Condom use
Teen birth rate
Children’s health
coverage
Low birth weight
Report: Teen Birth Rate Hits Record Low

18. Preschool
Literacy
Working parents
High School
completion
Overall Trends