Annotation and Close Reading of Complex Texts

Learning to Read with Highlighters and Pens

Close Reading: What is It?

Close reading is thoughtful, critical analysis of a text that focuses on significant details or patterns in order to develop a deep, precise understanding of the text’s form, craft, meanings, etc.

It is a key requirement of the College and Career Ready Standards and directs the reader’s attention to the text itself.

What Does Close Reading Include?

Diving right into the text with limited pre-reading activities

Focusing on the text itself

Re-reading deliberately

Reading with a purpose

Visualizing, Summarizing, Clarifying, Connecting, Responding, and Questioning

Part 1: Marking the Text

What is Annotation?

Annotation is marking a text to show understanding.

While there are many ways to annotate, at Cordova, we are using highlighters.

Yellow is used to highlight the claim of the text and the conclusion that mirrors or summarizes the claim at the end of the text. A claim is the argument presented, and it may be called a thesis or central idea. By using the term claim (claim and yellow share the letter L), we simplify the language for all of us – teachers and students.

Green is used to highlight the grounds (evidence) upon which the claim is based. It is the proof that supports the claim. Grounds and green share the letter G.

What is Annotation?

Pens/Pencils:

The color of the pen/pencil is irrelevant. It is the mark that matters.

Underlining: The reader underlines words or passages that he/she thinks are essential to understanding the text. Readers may underline text that has already been highlighted in green, but one goal is to look for words/passages in addition to the grounds that reveal more specific information about the grounds.

Additionally, readers will label the underlined text (metaphor, simile, allusion, quote, data, comparison/contrast, counter-argument, etc) and briefly explain why/how the author used it, the purpose it serves, or how it supports the claim.

Circling: Readers circle words/text they do not understand.

I Read the Text. I’m Done, Right?

• No.

• Our process requires three readings to attain comprehension, understand the significance of the text, and establish an interpretation of the text.

• While experienced readers often combine steps, we want our readers to use three separate readings.

Part 3: Writing in the Margins

Writing in the Margins

Writing in the Margins is an active reading strategy that helps readers identify important information in the text.

It involves six strategies which include:

1. visualizing ideas

2. summarizing ideas

3. clarifying information

4. making connections

5. responding to ideas

6. asking questions

Writing in the Margins

Writing in the Margins is an active reading strategy that helps readers identify important information in the text.

It involves six strategies which include:

1. visualizing ideas

2. summarizing ideas

3. clarifying information

4. making connections

5. responding to ideas

6. asking questions

1. Visualize

• Visualize what the author is saying and draw an illustration in the margin. When visualizing, ask:

What does this look like?

How can I draw this concept/idea?

What visual or symbol best represents this idea?

Example of Visualizing

Clean Air or Clean Hair?

By Glenn Hurowitz

While showering a few weeks ago, I realized I had run out of

conditioner, So I reached up and grabbed my wife’s bottle – Clairol

Herbal Essences Rainforest Flowers, “with essences of nourishing

palm.”

The label caught me slightly by surprise. As an environmental

journalist, I’ve been writing about the ecologically destructive effect of

palm oil for some time now.

Whether it’s used as an additive in soap, cosmetics or food, or

processed into biofuel, palm oil is one of the worst culprits in the

climate crisis. Most of it comes from the disappearing, ultra-carbon-rich

rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, of which 25,000 square miles

have been cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations.

That burning releases enough carbon dioxide into the air to rank

Indonesia as the No. 3 such polluter in the world. It also destroys the

last remaining habitat for orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other

endangered wildlife. So what was this deadly oil doing in our otherwise

ecologically friendly apartment?

(continued next page)

2. Summarize

• Briefly summarize paragraphs or sections of a text. Summaries will:

State what the paragraph is about

Describe what the author is doing

Account for key terms and/or ideas

Example of Summarizing

Clean Air or Clean Hair?

By Glenn Hurowitz

While showering a few weeks ago, I realized I had run out of

conditioner, So I reached up and grabbed my wife’s bottle – Clairol

Herbal Essences Rainforest Flowers, “with essences of nourishing

palm.”

The label caught me slightly by surprise. As an environmental

journalist, I’ve been writing about the ecologically destructive effect of

palm oil for some time now.

Whether it’s used as an additive in soap, cosmetics or food, or

processed into biofuel, palm oil is one of the worst culprits in the

climate crisis. Most of it comes from the disappearing, ultra-carbon-rich

rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, of which 25,000 square miles

have been cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations.

That burning releases enough carbon dioxide into the air to rank

Indonesia as the No. 3 such polluter in the world. It also destroys the

last remaining habitat for orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other

endangered wildlife. So what was this deadly oil doing in our otherwise

ecologically friendly apartment?

(continued next page)

Glenn Hurowitz is an environmental journalist who researches the damaging effects of palm oil.

Describing how burning forests in Indonesia is polluting the air and destroying vital habitats

3. Clarifying

• Clarify complex ideas in the text through analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. You might:

Define key terms

Reread sections of the text

Ask “What does this mean?”

Ask “Why is this important?”

Make connections among ideas in text

Example of Clarifying

Clean Air or Clean Hair?

By Glenn Hurowitz

While showering a few weeks ago, I realized I had run out of

conditioner, So I reached up and grabbed my wife’s bottle – Clairol

Herbal Essences Rainforest Flowers, “with essences of nourishing

palm.”

The label caught me slightly by surprise. As an environmental

journalist, I’ve been writing about the ecologically destructive effect of

palm oil for some time now.

Whether it’s used as an additive in soap, cosmetics or food, or

processed into biofuel, palm oil is one of the worst culprits in the

climate crisis. Most of it comes from the disappearing, ultra-carbon-rich

rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, of which 25,000 square miles

have been cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations.

That burning releases enough carbon dioxide into the air to rank

Indonesia as the No. 3 such polluter in the world. It also destroys the

last remaining habitat for orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other

endangered wildlife. So what was this deadly oil doing in our otherwise

ecologically friendly apartment?

(continued next page)

He wants me to think about the products I buy.

Forest in Indonesia are being cleared for palm oil production

4. Connecting

• Make connections with the reading to your own life and to the world. While reading, you might ask:

How does this relate to me?

What do I know about this?

How does this relate to the world

What do I believe about this?

Example of Connecting

Clean Air or Clean Hair?

By Glenn Hurowitz

While showering a few weeks ago, I realized I had run out of

conditioner, So I reached up and grabbed my wife’s bottle – Clairol

Herbal Essences Rainforest Flowers, “with essences of nourishing

palm.”

The label caught me slightly by surprise. As an environmental

journalist, I’ve been writing about the ecologically destructive effect of

palm oil for some time now.

Whether it’s used as an additive in soap, cosmetics or food, or

processed into biofuel, palm oil is one of the worst culprits in the

climate crisis. Most of it comes from the disappearing, ultra-carbon-rich

rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, of which 25,000 square miles

have been cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations.

That burning releases enough carbon dioxide into the air to rank

Indonesia as the No. 3 such polluter in the world. It also destroys the

last remaining habitat for orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other

endangered wildlife. So what was this deadly oil doing in our otherwise

ecologically friendly apartment?

(continued next page)

I use this shampoo…yikes, it has palm oil in it.

I learned about deforestation in science class.

5. Responding

• Respond to ideas in the text. Your

responses can be personal or analytical.

Readers often respond to:

interesting ideas

emotional arguments

provocative statements

author’s claims

facts or data

Example of Responding

Clean Air or Clean Hair?

By Glenn Hurowitz

While showering a few weeks ago, I realized I had run out of

conditioner, So I reached up and grabbed my wife’s bottle – Clairol

Herbal Essences Rainforest Flowers, “with essences of nourishing

palm.”

The label caught me slightly by surprise. As an environmental

journalist, I’ve been writing about the ecologically destructive effect of

palm oil for some time now.

Whether it’s used as an additive in soap, cosmetics or food, or

processed into biofuel, palm oil is one of the worst culprits in the

climate crisis. Most of it comes from the disappearing, ultra-carbon-rich

rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, of which 25,000 square miles

have been cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations.

That burning releases enough carbon dioxide into the air to rank

Indonesia as the No. 3 such polluter in the world. It also destroys the

last remaining habitat for orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other

endangered wildlife. So what was this deadly oil doing in our otherwise

ecologically friendly apartment?

(continued next page)

Surprising: palm oil is a major contributor to climate change

It saddens me that we are destroying animal habitats

6. Questioning

• Question both the ideas in the text and your own understanding of the text. While reading, you might ask:

what is the author saying?

what do I understand so far?

what is the purpose of this section?

What do I agree/disagree with?

Example of Questioning

Clean Air or Clean Hair?

By Glenn Hurowitz

While showering a few weeks ago, I realized I had run out of

conditioner, So I reached up and grabbed my wife’s bottle – Clairol

Herbal Essences Rainforest Flowers, “with essences of nourishing

palm.”

The label caught me slightly by surprise. As an environmental

journalist, I’ve been writing about the ecologically destructive effect of

palm oil for some time now.

Whether it’s used as an additive in soap, cosmetics or food, or

processed into biofuel, palm oil is one of the worst culprits in the

climate crisis. Most of it comes from the disappearing, ultra-carbon-rich

rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, of which 25,000 square miles

have been cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations.

That burning releases enough carbon dioxide into the air to rank

Indonesia as the No. 3 such polluter in the world. It also destroys the

last remaining habitat for orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other

endangered wildlife. So what was this deadly oil doing in our otherwise

ecologically friendly apartment?

(continued next page)

Why does the author choose to begin in the shower?

Why do palm oil producers burn the forests? Why don’t they cut down and use the wood for lumber or other products?

Comprehension

• The reader attempts this cold with no preparation or help from the teacher other than the directions.

• In this step, the reader is answering one of the following questions:

• What happened? (fiction)

• What is the author saying? (non-fiction)

• What is the author trying to accomplish? (non-fiction)

Significance• The reader annotates in this step using this process:

1. Highlight the claim and conclusion in yellow.

2. Highlight the grounds in green.

3. Underline important words/text. (No need to label or explain it yet.)

4. Circle any words, ideas, or text that is confusing or not understood.

• The reader is trying to answer the following:

• What is the message?

• What is the argument/purpose?

Interpretation The third read is to create an interpretation of

the piece in terms of social/political/cultural terms and/or how the author develops this piece through rhetorical strategies/devices and/or literary techniques/devices.

Questions to address include the following: What did the author do?

Why did he/she do it?

How/Why does it work?

In this step, the reader adds a label and explanation to the underlined passages. The next step is writing an essay that explains the interpretation.

Practice Time

1. Read to comprehend. Look for the big picture.

2. Annotate to show understanding with highlighters and pens/pencils.

3. Interpret what you know.