Highlighters, Sticky notes, Writing in the margins oh my!

Holding thinking to remember and reuse is the focus of chapter 6.

The use of highlighters can prove to be a very useful tool for students.  The highlighters don't do the work, it merely allows our students to hold to their thinking . Marking their text gives them a way to return to important information, review, and study for a test.  Sometimes they need to be coached as to what is important enough to highlight. Many students are new to highlight have the habit of highlighting everything on the page.

Our students are not always allowed to highlight text, so a good alternative is to use a sticky notes. By using a sticky note the students’ thoughts are reinforced as they write down either questions, statements, make connections, and draw conclusions. On page 73 Trovani provides us with some possible uses for sticky notes.

She writes:  Possible uses for sticky notes.

When students can't write on the text, sticky notes make it possible to still mark things.  Sticky notes can flag a page and marking lines so readers can find a part quickly; mark confusing parts to get confirmation; hold thinking to share later.

For text that student can highlight and mark, writing in the margins can be a useful tool. As they are reading they can underline important themes, words they don't understand, and formulate questions slowing down their reading. As teachers it is important for us to model these skills, and allow our students time to grow into them. Whether they're using highlighters, sticky notes, or writing in the margins their skills would develop throughout the school year. Remember to be patient allowing the students to grow through experience.

Modeling these skills does not all have to come from the teacher, using a strategy called whole group thinking can help.  An example of this would be to give a class all the same short reading assignment.  At the end of reading have students come up to the board which has an enlargement of the article. Allow the students to engage in an open dialogue as they decide what should be highlighted, receive a sticky note, or marked the margins. This allows the stronger readers to become role models, in my experience sometimes having a student repeat the lesson in their own words will benefit the struggling reader.

What Works by Chris Tovani pages 86 and 87 from ”Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?”

What Works:

1. Give students something to look for and write as they read.  Model different ways readers mark text and hold their thinking while they read.

Teaching point: good readers trust the author in their own abilities as they read. They don't panic if at first the text doesn't make sense-they trust that there are clues in the text that will help their understanding.

2. Show students how to use double entry diary (see Chapter 2) throughout the year.  You can provide different options with these diaries for marking thinking. This tool is especially helpful when reading nonfiction text.

Teaching point: good readers know there are different ways to mark text while reading. When one tool isn't working, they can easily select another that may be more helpful.

3. Share with your students what you do to help yourself remember what you read. Perhaps you write in the margins; maybe jot notes to yourself. Notice what you do as an expert reader of your content to set a purpose, and share that with your students.

Teaching point: good readers rely on experts to show them how to navigate unfamiliar text. Let them see how you ask questions, adjust your reading rate, and note your thinking so that you can return to it later.