I am a big fan of a good annotation. As you may have guessed!

So let’s take a quick minute to talk about how to annotate like a Wild Child Annotator.

WHAT IS AN ANNOTATION?

Annotations are a fancy way of saying writing in the margins. That’s it. I like to think of it as a chance to make reading a book into more of a two-sided conversation. In a book(?!?!?), you may be asking, horrified. YES. I particularly love looking back on annotations I have written in earlier seasons of my life, so adult book club friends, this one may be for you too!  

WHY ASSIGN ANNOTATIONS?

Annotations are the perfect reading homework assignment. They cause less stress than pop quizzes and, if teachers know their students’ handwriting, are equally as effective. They are also more respectful of students’ time than boring comprehension questions. Most importantly, they are the best option for encouraging deep reading– understanding texts beyond just the words on the page.

HOW TO TEACH ANNOTATING

Annotation isn’t hard, but it does take a little practice. The best way I have found to teach annotation is with a Close Reading exercise. Really, Close Reading is fantastic for any number of things, particularly if you have an especially juicy, meaty (ew, sorry) poem or passage you want to discuss.

1. Instruct students to read the passage to themselves first. A printed out handout can be nice, or the book itself can work just fine.
2. Now, students reread, writing notes in the margin. They might decode what a tricky poem seems to be saying. Trace themes and metaphors. Write down any brilliant discoveries. See notes below, but really anything goes, as long as it takes brain power. If you have students that seem preoccupied with giving the “right” answer, be sure to reassure and warn them that there are no right answers… but there are wrong ones.
3. Could this be a lovely opportunity for everyone’s favorite, the Think Pair Share? A classic for a reason!
4. Take the rest of the class’s duration (probably more time than anyone could reasonably expect) to go through the passage, paragraph by paragraph or stanza by stanza. Look at the nitty gritty details, entertain a conspiracy theory or two, and then put it all together to come up with some big picture conclusions collectively about the text and its purpose.
5. Allow students to sit back and stew in their own genius.

Students might need a little more structure or a few concrete ideas of what annotation can look like. Perhaps this list of how to annotate like you mean it might be of use to them.

HOW TO ANNOTATE LIKE YOU MEAN IT

• Make note of interesting ideas that occur to you as you read.
• Keep track of patterns. Maybe keep track of relevant page numbers if you’ve got them.
• Speaking of connections, note similarities to and differences from other texts (books, movies, history, whatever).
• Agree. Disagree. Not with characters, but with the ideas of the book itself.
• Ask questions.
• Jot notes to yourself that might come in handy come essay-writing time. If that applies to you.
• Annotations do not have to be limited to words. Circle passages, connect phrases or ideas with a line or an arrow, draw pictures, mark longer quotations with brackets. I’m not a fan or underlining or highlighting, but do what you must.

May your students and you be struck by your own brilliance in many years’ time, and think back on who they and you used to be, and feel a surge of fondness for your and our dear former selves. You. Now. A wonderful and fascinating human.