The Write Way

Download this free activity to guide your students through the process of annotation.

Writing is a tool we use to communicate, but also to process. It helps us sort out and even change our thinking.

- Emily Johnstone, Writing Studies Professor, UC Merced

There is something magical that happens when students are allowed to write on text. Suddenly, they're no longer just reading. They're thinking. Circling unfamiliar words. Underlining surprising facts. Writing questions in the margins. Drawing arrows between ideas. Arguing with the author. Connecting today's reading to something they learned yesterday.

Students need to annotate print pages. For years, we've told students not to write in books. "Keep them neat." "Don't mark them up." "Leave them for the next class." But research suggests a different approach that involves more photocopies than your administration might appreciate.

Reading comprehension improves when students actively interact with a text instead of simply looking at it. Researchers have found that annotation encourages students to monitor their understanding, ask questions, make connections, identify important ideas, and remember more of what they read. 

In other words, readers understand more when they do something with the text rather than simply move their eyes across the page. Education scholar Remi Kalir notes that annotation blends reading and writing, helping students make meaning while encouraging deeper questions.

Want to give it a try in your classroom? Here’s a free activity that will guide your students through the process of annotation while they read how Native peoples across North America solved remarkably different challenges. 

As an extra challenge, give them a bigger purpose for reading. Ask: "What evidence shows that Native peoples adapted successfully to their environments?"  

The best readers aren't passive. They question. They notice. They wonder. They argue. They connect. 

They annotate. 

Steve Seely | Co-founder, 241 Books