Text Coding:

Combatting Mad

Highlighter’s

DiseaseTerry Atkinson, East Carolina University

Kenneth McKee, Buncombe County Schools

Jen Zagiba, Wake County Schools

Outcomes

● Acquire specific text-coding strategies for helping

students navigate complex text.

● Describe how text-coding supports monitoring

comprehension.

● Contrast text-coding from highlighting.

● Discuss how text-coding supports close reading within

their classrooms and disciplines.

Highlighting

Monitoring is the KEY to

Comprehension!

Text Coding: A Scene from the Classroom

Thinking Notes in High School English

Engaging Metacognitively

“In the marginalia, too, we talk only to

ourselves; we therefore talk freshly--boldly--

originally--with abandonment--with conceit.”

Why Text Coding?

“Giving students...opportunities to monitor their own use of

strategies is important…text coding works well and is

especially effective with students who argue that annotating

a text takes too much time and disrupts the flow of their

reading.”

“Best Practices in Adolescent Literacy Instruction”

(Ogle & Lang, 2011)

Reading A Primary Document

The Gettysburg Address (CCSS RH1,RH2)

? -- Questions

C -- Context

D -- Democratic Ideals

R -- Relevance to Today

Utilizing Anchor Charts

Evolution of the Strategy

Student Ownership

How do we get to independence?

Impact on Motivation

“School ought to be a place where you go to

develop a passion for learning-for a lifetime of

learning.”

Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading

(Beers & Probst, 2012)

Supportive of Close Reading

“We hope that learning and staying alert for the

signposts will inculcate a habit of paying close

attention, a readiness to slow down and reflect,

and a willingness to hear and explore other

responses to a text.”

(Beers & Probst, 2012)

Supporting Disciplinary Literacies

Across the Disciplines

Life of Pi in English II, Chris Gilbert)

Across the Disciplines

Hammurabi’s Code in World History, Wendy Segars

Across the Disciplines

AP Statistics Textbook, Tony Sapp

Across the Disciplines

(Leadership Skills in ROTC, Colonel Rick McConoughey)

What about Digital Texts?

Google Docs Comments and Newsela

“NEWSELA + Google Docs = Differentiated,

Collaborative Reading”

(Holland, 2014)

Text Coding and Group Discussion

? = Questions

- = Disagreements

! = Surprising Ideas

+ = Most Important Ideas

Protocol for Discussion

One member can take notes and lead the discussion.

Organize your discussion by column.

1. Everyone introduces themselves.

2. Everyone discusses questions from the text,

3. ...and so on until you discuss each column...

Then,

Develop a group statement about the value of text coding.