Close Reading Notes - Teaching with Jennifer Findley (2023)

Did you see thatpopular memesWhere does the student mark two full pages of text? It breaks me every time I see it. One of the reasons memes resonate with teachers is because it's a very real struggle. Seems like I get some students commenting like crazy every year. Or the other way around, and students don't pick up a pen or note-taking tool as they read. Fortunately, our students can learn to annotate text effectively as they grow and learn in other areas. This post has specific annotation tips to use if you read carefully. Using these notation tips will help your students understand a text, analyze a text, and think about the text (spoken and written).

Please note: The links to the hand2mind small group reading kits are affiliate links (meaning I will receive a small commission if you or your school purchase something through the links at no additional cost to you).

General comments vs. Specific comments

Before we dive into the tips, let's back up a bit and discuss the two main types of notes my students take while reading.

General remarks- This is the most common type of annotation you see on blogs, articles, and Pinterest. In this style of commentary, the student reads the text with the goal of capturing the essence of the topic or story. Students use symbols and common notation instructions that work with any text (make predictions, make connections, interesting facts, etc.). This type of commentary works very well when students read a text once for a single purpose or during their first reading of a text.

Specific comments-When students complete this type of commentary, they have a specific purpose in mind and are looking for textual details, facts, and evidence that fit that purpose. As you've probably noticed, this type of notation lends itself to close reading, as each reading of the text serves a new purpose. It doesn't make sense for students to use the same notation symbols and generic directions every time they read. Specific notes are also useful for discussions in literary circles and literature analysis.

Some of the annotation tips I share work well with both types of annotation, and some are better suited to helping students with specific annotations.

Teach students the purpose of commenting

Even before I start modeling and allowing my students to practice commenting on the text, we spend time discussing the purpose and benefits (or possibilities) of commenting. We discuss what commenting is, what it looks like, what tools can be used, and how it helps the reader.

We discuss how annotations help readers:

• focus on what you are reading
• Understand the details of a text, including details that are complex or difficult to understand
• Track your thoughts and feelings about a text and its details
• Keep track of important details
• prepare the discussion
• get ready to write about a text

Click here or on the image below for a free printable version that I use when entering notes.

Comment on each upcoming reading with a specific purpose

Remember how we talked about the difference between general and specific notes above? One of my best tips for close reading notes is to have students write down each reading with a specific focus. As they read, they should specifically comment on the details and textual evidence that support their discussion or response to the suggested approach for that reading.

For example, if students are reading a text to understand how the author is using the character to develop the theme, students should discuss details of the character, such as dialogue, plot, and internal monologue that support the theme. They can then use those comments to respond and discuss the approach.

Color code for each annotation

Have students use a different color for each reading. This will help them organize their notes and be responsible. Students can refer to specific notes to discuss and reflect on a text.

Click here for the printable version I use to introduce my students to the benefits and purposes of color coding (on page 3).

Model the annotation process

The first few times you practice close reading strategies with your students, be sure to model how a text will be correctly annotated. To do this, I recommend using shared text, projected on a whiteboard, enlarged to the size of a poster or aText created specifically for modeling.

Here are the steps I follow when preparing to model annotations:

1. Prepare my materials: The materials I use are interesting text divided into paragraphs (two copies, one for pre-class use and one for class use), a focus topic or question, and an annotation tool (this can be as simple as like a pencil)
2. Read aloud – Before class, read and discuss the text, keeping in mind the orientation of the focus. Doing this ahead of time will help ensure that the guiding/focus question fits well with the text and that you have plenty of detail to comment on.

And this is what I do to really model the annotation process with my students:

1. Introduce the text to the students and focus on the suggestion/question. I declare that I will read this text with a specific focus. As I read the text, I will discuss details that show my understanding of the text and the focus question/promise. I also declare that the notes I have chosen will help me discuss the suggestion/question.
2. Read the text section by section. After reading a sentence or paragraph, stop and think aloud regularly. I do two different ways of thinking out loud:
   1. Stop and Discuss: Whenever I come to an obvious detail, I will stop reading and explain to the students that I am commenting on that detail and why.
   2. Pause, reflect, and then comment: I also model pausing, reflecting, and commenting after reading a passage of text. To do this, I read a paragraph and then think out loud what details I can comment on that fit my main question. I invite students to help me also in the search for details.
3. When I finish reading and annotating the text, I show students how to use the notes to discuss the focus message or questions. I do this simply by referring to the notes (pointing to them and using the same words) while commenting on the text.

My favorite part to useSmall group close-up reading kits developed with Hand2mindsample texts are easels. This allows the teacher to easily model how text is written down in a small group.

Template for using annotations

In addition to modeling how text is annotated for specific purposes, be sure to explicitly model how annotations will be used to support oral and written discussion of the text. This will help your students see the purpose of commenting and be more successful with this important strategy.

After modeling how to annotate text (using the steps outlined in the previous section), I follow a lesson on how to use those annotations to discuss and write about text. Template how to discuss the text using notes on the same day template how to comment. So we come back the next day and I model explicitly how those notes are used in writing.

I know this may sound challenging, but it is very easy. All you have to do is review your notes, rephrase the focus message, reply to the message, and then provide text details (your notes) to support your response. In doing so, I'm actually pointing out the details I've discussed to show students the connection between what I've discussed and my reaction to the text.

Annotations can be a very powerful tool for readers for many reasons. I hope these tips help you and your students. Do you have annotation tips that work well for your readers? Tell us in the comments!

Need close reading resources?

Click below for close reading resources to implement rigorous and engaging close reading instruction in your classroom. These close reading resources are available in digital formats through TeachersPayTeachers or as durable goods (with included lesson plans) through Hand2mind.

Hand2Mind Mindful Reading Kits

These reading kits contain all the materials you need to implement the note-taking tips and strategies shared in this publication. They come ready to use with a text template easel (for template note taking), color-coded small group note-taking kits, and lesson plans with specific note-taking instructions for each reading.

TeachersPayTeachers Close Reading Resources

The main difference between the TpT ​​version and the Hand2mind version (besides the digital aspect) is that the lesson plans with specific annotation direction are exclusive to the Hand2mind kits.