How Margin Notes are Better than the Yellow Highlighter
Teach Margin Notes
We all remember the joys of highlighting articles and college textbooks with our favorite yellow marker. Aw, the smell! It is true that note-taking on the text is superior to note-taking on paper or on a computer. However, is yellow highlighting the best form of note-taking to improve reading comprehension and retention? In a word: NO.
Highlighting text may even be counterproductive. Let’s face it. Highlighting takes time away from reading. It also interrupts the flow of what should be an internal dialogue between reader and author. If you stopped an important conversation every minute or so with an unconnected activity, you would certainly decrease your understanding of that dialogue. No doubt, you would also irritate your conversational partner!
Also, highlighting can’t be erased. Ever highlight what you thought was a main idea and find in a paragraph later that you were mistaken? Some even use white-out to undo their highlighting errors!
Finally, highlighting limits effective re-reading and study review. When reviewing a highlighted text the night before an exam, your eyes are drawn only to the highlighting. You miss out on the possibility of revising your understanding of the text or seeing the author’s train of thought from another angle.
Now that I’ve debunked the cherished highlighter, is there a better reading and note-taking option to improve reading comprehension? Yes. Try using margin notes. Margin note-taking uses symbols, abbreviations, and and annotations in the top, bottom, left, and right margins of books and articles to promote interactive reading. As an M.A. Reading Specialist, I highly recommend this interactive approach to reading and responding to the text. The more the dialogue between reader and author, the greater the reading comprehension. “Talking to the text” makes reading comprehensible and memorable. Also, the margin notes prepare the reader for class discussion and serve as helpful review prior to tests.
Teach your students to take margin notes using the following marginal tips with your next article, reading passage, or story. Who knows, you might just save a few dollars on yellow highlighters! Can’t write in the textbook? No worries, the small yellow stickies fit margins perfectly and can be removed without tearing pages or erasing the ink.
Yellow Sticky Margin Notes
How to Take Margin Notes
- Circle key vocabulary terms and [bracket] definitions in the text.
- Write a check mark in the margin for a main idea.
- Number examples and key details in the text.
- Write a question mark for confusing passages, for sections to review, and for questions to ask the teacher or in class discussion.
- Use a single [bracket] to identify a text selection and write out comments, using the SCRIP Comprehension Strategies. Label each comment with an S, C, R, I, or P:
- Summarize means to put together the main ideas and important details of a reading into a short-version of what the author has said. A summary can be of an entire reading, but it is more useful to summarize more than once at key transition points in the author’s train of thought. It frequently requires the reader to skim that part of the reading once more. Check out a YouTube video demonstration of the Summarize Comprehension Strategy, using “The Boy Who Cried Wolf“ fairy tale to illustrate this strategy. The storyteller first reads the fairy tale without comment. Next, the story is read once again as a think-aloud with interruptions to show how readers should summarize sections of the reading as they read to monitor and build comprehension.
- Connect means to notice the relationship between one part of the text with another part of the text. The parts may compare (be similar) or contrast (be different). The parts may be a sequence (an order) of events or ideas. The parts may respond to other parts of the text, such as to provide reasons for or effects of what came before in the reading. Draw arrows in the margin to connect related ideas if within the text. Next, Connect also means to examine the relationship between one part of the text with something outside of the text. It could be something from another book, movie, television show, or historical event. Check out a YouTube video demonstration of the Connect Comprehension Strategy, using “Hansel and Gretel“ fairy tale to illustrate this strategy. The storyteller first reads the fairy tale without comment. Next, the story is read once again as a think-aloud with interruptions to show how readers should connect sections of the reading within or outside of the text as they read to monitor and build comprehension.
- Re-think means to re-read the text when you are confused or have lost the author’s train of thought. Reviewing what has just been read will improve understanding. You may even understand what the author has said in a different way than how you understood that section the first time reading it. Write your conclusion about the author means. Check out a YouTube video demonstration of the Re-think Comprehension Strategy, using “Little Red Riding Hood“ fairy tale to illustrate this strategy. The storyteller first reads the fairy tale without comment. Next, the story is read once again as a think-aloud with interruptions to show how readers should re-think sections of the reading as they read to monitor and build comprehension.
- Interpret means to focus on what the author means. Authors may directly say what they mean right in the lines of the text. They also may suggest what they mean with hints to allow readers to draw their own conclusions. These hints can be found in the tone (feeling/attitude) of the writing, the word choice, or in other parts of the writing that may be more directly stated. Write your interpretation and other possible interpretations. Check out a YouTube video demonstration of the Interpret Comprehension Strategy, using “Goldilocks and the Three Bears“ fairy tale to illustrate this strategy. The storyteller first reads the fairy tale without comment. Next, the story is read once again as a think-aloud with interruptions to show how readers should re-think sections of the reading as they read to monitor and build comprehension.
- Predict means to make an educated guess about what will happen or be said next in the text. A good prediction uses the clues presented in the reading to make a logical guess that makes sense. Good readers check their predictions with what actually happens or is said next. Check out a YouTube video demonstration of the Predict Comprehension Strategy, using “The Three Little Pigs“ fairy tale to illustrate this strategy. The storyteller first reads the fairy tale without comment. Next, the story is read once again as a think-aloud with interruptions to show how readers should predict sections of the reading and check the accuracy of their predictions as they read to monitor and build comprehension.Want five FREE lessons to teach the SCRIP Comprehension Strategies plus a FREE set of SCRIP Posters and Bookmarks sent to your email? Lessons from Pennington Publishing’s Essential Study Skills (What Every Student Should Know) and the Teaching Reading Strategies reading intervention program.
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Essential Study Skills
The author’s Essential Study Skills is the study skill curriculum that teaches what students need to know to succeed and thrive in school. Often, the reason why students fail to achieve their academic potential is not because of laziness or lack of effort, but because they have never learned the basic study skills necessary for success.
The 56 lessons in Essential Study Skills will teach your students to “work smarter, not harder.” Students who master these skills will spend less time, and accomplish more during homework and study time. Their test study will be more productive and they will get better grades. Reading comprehension and vocabulary will improve. Their writing will make more sense and essays will be easier to plan and complete. They will memorize better and forget less. Their schoolwork will seem easier and will be much more enjoyable. Lastly, students will feel better about themselves as learners and will be more motivated to succeed. Essential Study Skills is the ideal curriculum for study skill, life skill, Advocacy/Advisory, Opportunity Program classes. The easy-to-follow lesson format of 1. Personal Assessment 2. Study Skill Tips and 3. Reflection is ideal for self-guided learning and practice.