The Art of Annotating

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The Art of Annotating

• Using Annotating to Become an Active Reader

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WHAT is it and WHY should you do it?

• Annotating simply means writing in your book as
  you read.
• There are multiple reasons for marking a text as
  you read it .

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Reason 1 Interact with the Book

• You learn more from a conversation than you do
  from a one-sided lecture, so learn to TALK to
  your book!

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Reason 1 Interact with the book

• Typical marks
• Question marks questions be a critical reader
  by questioning what you read.
• Exclamation marks to say I agree or great
  point
• Smiley faces or other emoticons
• Color or highlight your favorite sections
• Create graphic organizers like Venn diagrams to
  help yourself understand relationships

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Reason 1 Interact with the Book

• Comments when you agree or disagree
• A short personal narrative that ties to the story
• Record the name of a song, a different book, a
  movie, a television show that maybe came to mind
  while you were reading a specific section

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Reason 2 Learn What the Book Teaches

• Underline, circle, or highlight key words and
  phrases
• Use the textual clues to define unfamiliar words
• If that doesnt help, then get a dictionary and
  record the definition in the margins of the book
• Put a reference to another page in the book to
  provide links between information

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Reason 2 Learn What the Book Teaches

• Summarize whole passages or even chapters
• Leave a trail in the book that makes it easier to
  find information later
• Create your own index in the back of the book
• EX Record each time a particular symbol is used
  in the work

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Reason 3 Discover the Authors Style

• Annotate to highlight style a particular way an
  author writes
• Does the author use descriptions to convey tone?
  Highlight the super descriptive passages to find
  out.
• Does the author use tons of dialogue in an effort
  to make the work more real?
• Does the author use an abundance of figurative
  language (similes, metaphors, personification)?

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Reason 4 Become an ACTIVE Reader

• If nothing else, annotating keeps you AWAKE
  because it prevents you from zoning out.
• Your BRAIN is constantly questioning, looking for
  repeated symbols, discovering style, making
  connections between the text and your life, etc.
• Your HANDS are busy underlining, highlighting,
  circling, flipping back and forth to find
  passages to connect, etc.