California Consortium for Independent Study
Are your Students College Ready?
(Strategies adapted from E.R.W.C.)
Expository Reading and Writing Strategies
Dr. Marilyn Brouette
Briones School
November 17, 2014
Martinez Unified School District
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PURPOSE OF PRESENTATION
 Review Common Core ELA Shifts
 Share Rhetorical Reading Strategies
Highlighting
Annotating
Marginal Notes
 Present Strategies through guided practice with
informational text
 Support strategies with Google Apps
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ELA COMMON CORE SHIFTS
Build knowledge
through content-rich
nonfiction
Read, write and speak citing evidence from
text, both literary and informational
Comprehend complex text
Use and understand academic language
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MEET THE COMMON CORE CHALLENGE
Focus on informational text
Consider text-based evidence, argument
and critical thinking
Analyze complex text
Integrate academic language
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DEMONSTRATE INDEPDENDENCE
Build strong content knowledge
Respond to audience, task, purpose, and
discipline
Comprehend and critique
Value evidence
Use technology and digital media
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RHETORICAL READING
Highlighting – Annotating - Marginal Notes
Three active reading strategies that ask you
to think and make decisions as you read
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HIGHLIGHTING TIPS
Important passages
Names of people
Unfamiliar vocabulary
Quotable lines
Key research, statistics & facts
Themes & main ideas
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READING WITH PURPOSE:
ANNOTATION
GET COLLEGE READY WITH CLOSE READING
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ANNOTATION GUIDE
Number the paragraphs
Common Core standards require
students to cite and refer to the text
Number the paragraphs to facilitate
this task.
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ANNOTATION SHORT HAND
? = Question or unsure of meaning
* = Important
[ ] = Quotable
# = Info, statistic or research
___= New vocabulary
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MAKING NOTES IN MARGINS
Write definitions
Ask questions
Translate ideas
into your own
words
Capture emotional
reactions
Make connections…
other books, classes,
life experiences
Summarize
Comment on ideas
Predict what will
happen
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READING STRATEGY
Chunk the text
Break up the text into smaller chunks.
Draw a horizontal line between the
introduction, body paragraphs and
conclusion.
Ask the student to justify the “chunks.”
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Read with Purpose
Circle Key Terms
– Words that are defined
– Terms that are repeated throughout
the text
Names of sources
Power verbs
Figurative language
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WHAT DOES THE AUTHOR SAY?
Summarize each chunk in the left
margin.
The chunking allows the student to
look at the text in smaller segments
and summarize what the author is
saying.
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RECORD YOUR THINKING
Write brief summary notes to emphasize points
made in graphics
Write brief answers to your questions in the
margins.
Make a brief outline of the material in the
margins.
Summarize important points in your own words
in the margins.
State the CONCLUSION in your own words at
the end of the article.
Write “Conclusion” in the margin.
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WHAT IS THE AUTHOR DOING?
In the right margin, describe what the
author is doing.
Use power verbs, such as describing,
illustrating, arguing, etc.
Represent the information with a
picture
Dig deeper into the text to analyze
connections
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STEPS FOR MARKING A TEXT
Tech Twist: Use Google Comment
1. Preview
2. Read
3. Determine author’s purpose
4. Determine the topic
5. Determine the pattern of organization
6. Determine the main idea
7. Go back and mark the text
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GUIDED PRACTICE
ANNOTATING –Article:
“If you want to go to college, learn to Fail”
1. What is the topic of this article?
2. How is the article structured?
3. Why did the author write the article?
4. What is the most important point about
the article?
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CHUNK THE TEXT
Introduction
What is the
author’s
purpose?
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Body
Paragraphs
Cite
evidence
the
author
uses to
prove his
assertion
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CONCLUSION
What emotion
does the
author appeal
to (pathos)?
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WANT TO GET TO COLLEGE?
LEARN TO FAIL!
Want to Get Into College? Learn to Fail
Education Week, February 1, 2012
By Angel B. Pérez
Genre: Commentary
Pair Share: Prediction –
What is the author’s
purpose?
1 I ask every student I interview for admission to my
institution, Pitzer College, the same question,
“What do you look forward to the most in college?”
I was stunned and delighted recently when a student
sat across from me at a Starbucks in New York City and
replied, “I look forward to the possibility of
failure.” Of course, this is not how most students
respond to the question when sitting before the person
who can make decisions about their academic
futures, but this young man took a risk.
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WANT TO GET TO COLLEGE?
LEARN TO FAIL!
Pair Share: Whose
perspective is
addressed?
2 “You see, my parents have never let me fail,” he said.
“When I want to take
a chance at something, they remind me
it’s not a safe route to take. Taking a
more rigorous course or trying an activity
I may not succeed in, they tell me,
will ruin my chances at college admission.
Even the sacrifice of staying up late
to do something unrelated to school,
they see as a risk to my academic work
and college success.”
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UseUseGoogle
Comments for annotation
Google Document Comments for annotation
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Google Tech Apps
Tech Tool
Diigo
https://www.diigo.com
Notability (apple store)
http://www.gingerlabs.com
Thinglink
https://www.thinglink.com
Use/Purpose
Annotate, highlight,
create post-its, and make
a library of sources for
any internet website. Add
to browser and annotate
as you read online.
Digitally annotate, great
for close-readings
Add annotations, photos,
videos to pictures
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Google Tech Apps
Tech Tool
Use/Purpose
Skitch
Digital annotation: An
http://evernote.com/skitch/ arrow for pointing things
out, a text tool, rectangle
?utm_source=interspire
you can surround objects
with, a highlighter, a
"pixelizer" for blurring out
details, and a crop tool.
Easel.ly
http://www.easel.ly
Infographic Maker
Infotopio
http://www.infotopia.info
Google powered source
for student research
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Google Tech Apps
Tech Tool
Mindmup
https://www.mindmup.com
Use/Purpose
Create mind maps and
graphic organizers
Readability
https://www.readability.com
Unclutters webpages
for easier reading
Awesome Screenshot
Capture the screen
http://awesomescreenshot.com and annotate, crop it,
etc.
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REVIEW
Presentation included:
 Common Core ELA Shifts
 Rhetorical Reading Strategies
 Highlighting
 Annotating
 Marginal Notes
 Guided practice with informational text
 Google Apps
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Contact Information
Dr. Marilyn Brouette
Briones School
mbrouette@martinez.k12.ca.us
(925) 338-5800 ext. 3884
Thank you for your kind attention.
Special Thanks to C.S.U. E.R.W.C. for
permission to use the article “Want to Get into
College, Learn to Fail.”
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