The Annotation
Conversation:
Accessing Complex Texts Through Close
Reading
Susan Bray
Perry High School
Houston County Schools
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20 Years experience as a classroom teacher
Two time STAR Teacher
B.A. English with Secondary English Certification
M.Ed. In English Education
Gifted Certification
Six years experience in Advanced Placement Literature
Professional Qualifications
1. Audience members will be able to understand the need for the use of highinterest Young Adult Literature as a bridge to accessing more complex
informational and literary texts.
2. Audience members will understand the importance of frequent library visits
to help students have access to high-interest texts.
3. Audience members will understand the necessity for student interaction with
text as a necessity for comprehension of more complex textual material.
4. Audience members audience members will be able to use a variety of
methods to teach annotation as a reading comprehension tool.
5. Audience members will understand research-driven best practices that
support student interaction with text as a means to higher levels of
comprehension
Presentation objectives
6. Audience members understand the validity of connections between YA texts and
literary texts.
7. Audience members the necessity of vocabulary instruction as a part of textual
analysis.
8. Audience members the relevance of textual annotation in all grade levels from
elementary to post-secondary.
9.Audience members will be able to utilize a host of technological resources to
utilize for accessing complex texts.
10.Audience members will be able to understand that as rigor levels increase and
text complexity is more closely scrutinized, teachers much have a wide variety of
techniques to help students access
Presentation objectives
• As we all know, Common Core Standards mandate that
students comprehend multiple texts of increased
complexity with a greater depth of knowledge while
using these texts to construct written responses on
assessments unlike anything we have seen on a
standardized test before except for the Advanced
Placement classroom.
Common Core Standards
• While the Lexile framework can
certainly be one measure of a reader's
growth, it certainly is not the only tool
that should be used in determining
whether a student's reading choice is
appropriate.
Lexile Scores
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Divergent by Veronica Roth - 700L - Grade 9
The Maze Runner by James Dashner - 770L - Grade 9
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - 780L - Grade 9
"I Have A Dream"- Speech by Martn Luther King Jr. 1000 L
• Grade 11-12 Common Core Reccomendations 10701220L
Lexile Scores
"Education is
not the filling
of a pail, but
the lighting
of a fire."
William Butler Yeats
• One challenge that students will never evade is the necessity to
wade through large pieces of information and understand
complex reading material. With our students set firmly in the
midst of the greatest information overload that our world has
ever known, there has never been a greater need for them to
possess savvy reading skills that allow them to discriminate
thoughtfully, analyze arguments, identify propaganda
techniques, and assess the rhetorical strategies utilized to create
those arguments. Increased rigor requirements in Common Core
and national standards utilized by organizations like The
College Board in assessments such as the AP exams and the
SAT demand that the student reader be able to quickly and
thoroughly access and comprehend said texts and incorporate
evidence from those texts into writing. In order for students to
reach the required level of depth for analysis of complex texts,
frequent and detailed annotation is essential.
The Challenge
• This presentation will mesh with the theme of "Teachers: Classroom
Change Agents" because despite the current controversy about
Common Core standards, the truth is that our students will be faced
with competition for jobs against not only workers throughout the
nation, but on a global basis. Our students will compete with workers
from Massachusetts, California, Beijing, and Helsinki. We cannot
afford to do them the disservice of not challenging them with
complex tasks. As educators, we must take the responsibility of
changing the current paradigm that allows students to disengage from
textual material. Thorough and frequent annotation of texts provides
evidence of student comprehension of texts, connections to prior
knowledge, vocabulary enhancement, textual evidence for students to
utilize on written assignments, and proof of engagement and higher
level thinking skills.
College and Career
Readiness
• For students to become
proficient at close reading,
frequent rereading of
complex passages and
annotating regularly is key.
Practice
• Encourage students to have a
conversation with the text and engage
with it as if it were a person. This
dialogue which one captures in the
annotation process is a valuable process
not only due to the metacognition it
encourages, but also due to the ability for
students to capture initial reactions,
questions, associations, and difficulties.
Conversation
• Annotation gives educators evidence of student growth
through a record of their thought processes. Students also
gain independence in this skill, as in any other, with
prolonged and regular practice. Just as dissecting a frog
in biology gives students a greater understanding of the
inner workings of the muscles and circulatory system, the
thorough dissection of a piece of writing produces the
same level of deeper insight.
Why Annotation ?
• Encourage your kids to acknowledge what they don't
know. So often students shy away from words or phrases
that they initially don't understand. However, they need to
be trained to identify those troublesome spots and be
intentional about determining why the author has chosen
the language or image.
"I know that I know nothing.“-Socrates
Metacognition
• On that note, student must also have it proven to them
that rereading is invaluable and that by not reading a
piece more than once, they may be missing out on
subtleties that will lead to a greater depth of knowledge.
However, readreading must be purposeful and have
specific direction.
Rereading
• In order for student to adequately analyze literary works,
they must be trained to consider the nuances of language
and to always consider an author's purpose and intention
for chosen diction. Language that seems particularly odd
or unusual should carefully considered for its connections
and connotations. Students should be trained in phrases
such as “The word ________ is associated with
___________ and brings forth thoughts of _________
and __________.” or “ The author's use of the words
_______________ and ___________ further his goal of
portraying __________ as _____________.” Given these
frameworks, students will come to recognize the power
of associative language and the connections between
images and emotions.
Word Choice
• Make connections
• Ask questions
• Summarize (particularly for lower level students or
challenging pieces)
• Talk Back
An Annotation Guide
• Students in high school are confronted with standardized testing that
expects them to have high reading levels, yet rarely are these students
taken to the library to find high interest reading material that they are
held accountable for in class. Encouraging the reading of high
interest young adult material allows students the chance to pursue
their own interests while independently strengthening vocabulary,
cognitive ability, creativity, and reading stamina.
Reading for
Pleasure
Student Samples
Student Samples
Student Samples
Student Samples
Sudent samples
"Close Reading and the CCSS, Part 1." - Common Core State Standards
TOOLBOX. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014.
"College Board." AP Central. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014.
"Deacon Betts and the First Church of Creative Writing." The
VoicesBlog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014.
ICS
"Funny Teacher - Bing Images." Funny Teacher - Bing Images.
Web. 29 May 2014.
N.p., n.d.
"Membership." Educational Leadership:Common Core: Now
What?:Closing in on Close Reading. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May
2014.
Resources