Two teachers, a 3rd grade teacher and a high school English teacher, share their classroom-tested approaches to teaching effective annotation techniques. They discuss personalized and collaborative methods to enhance comprehension, transitioning students to independent annotation, developing core competencies through collaborative annotation exercises, and the impact of teaching annotation as a practice of deepening learning and assessment.
Personalized, self-directed approach improves students' annotation retention and comprehension.
Structured template guides students towards independent and meaningful annotation practices in the classroom.
Collaborative annotation process enhances comprehension, dialogue skills, and transitions students from dependent to independent learners.
Deep dives
Teaching Annotation: An Effective Practice for Comprehension
Developing an effective way to teach students how to annotate texts is crucial for enhancing comprehension. Andrea Castellano, a third-grade teacher, initially used a formulaic approach to annotation, but realized that students didn't retain this method. Shifting to a more personalized, self-directed approach led to improved results. Collaborating with colleague Irene Yanaskoli, who teaches tenth grade, they explain their methods in enhancing student annotation styles through a guided, progressive process.
Andrea Castellano's Approach: Establishing Personalized Annotation Practice
Andrea Castellano's method focuses on guiding students to develop their own annotation style. She starts with modeling active reading by underlining important sentences, encouraging students to trust their interpretations, and engage interactively with texts. The structured template she provides helps students practice identifying keywords and ideas before advancing to analyzing craft and structure, fostering a gradual shift towards independent and meaningful annotation practices.
Irene Yanaskoli's Collaborative Annotation Method: Enhancing Comprehension and Collaboration
Irene Yanaskoli's collaborative approach to annotation aims at deepening students' comprehension and fostering collaborative discussions. By incorporating four core competencies - identify, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize - she structures guiding questions tailored to each competency to make annotation more responsive and reflective. This practice not only boosts comprehension but also cultivates dialogue skills and prepares students to transition from dependent to independent learners.
Overview of Collaborative Annotation Process
The podcast discusses a collaborative annotation process where students gradually progress from guided group annotation to independent analysis. Initially, the teacher provides guiding questions and checks students' understanding during group annotation sessions spread over one or two class periods. Students then move to individual annotation, using different colored markers to identify, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information in a passage. The aim is for students to make their thinking visible on paper by annotating based on specific skills without the need for constant guidance.
Teaching Active Reading and Annotation Skills
The podcast emphasizes the importance of teaching students to interact with texts meaningfully through annotation. By modeling, practicing, and exposing students to peers' annotations, they learn to make meaning from text, ask probing questions, and think critically. This collaborative approach fosters a culture of curiosity and rigorous yet individualized learning. Annotation becomes a practice, deeply integrated into the learning process, ensuring students deepen their understanding, extend their thinking, and meet assessment criteria through responsive annotation linked to their learning goals.
Annotation can be a powerful way to improve comprehension and increase engagement, but its effectiveness can vary depending on how it's taught. In this episode, two teachers share their classroom-tested approaches to teaching students how to effectively annotate texts: 3rd grade teacher Andrea Castellano and high school English teacher Irene Yannascoli.
