Annotations are a critical strategy teachers can use to encourage students to interact with a text. They promote a deeper understanding of passages and encourage students to read with a purpose.

Prereading refers to strategies you use before reading a text and that allows you to understand, and remember the information. Prereading often implies skimming or looking at the text for some seconds especially at the title, headings, images, and other elements that stand out to try to predict what the text is about.

1. Annotating a Short Story or Novel.
2. • At the end of each chapter or section, briefly summarize the material.
3. provide headings for chapters or sections.
4. • Make a list of vocabulary words on a back page or the inside back cover.

Why Annotate? By annotating a text, you will ensure that you understand what is happening in a text after you’ve read it. As you annotate, you should note the author’s main points, shifts in the message or perspective of the text, key areas of focus, and your own thoughts as you read.

How to annotate a book

1. Stick to highlighting.
2. Use colorful tabs (helpful if you can’t write in the book!)
3. Create a key and use symbols.
4. Annotate fast, like a student.
5. Talk to the text.

However, here are some helpful tips of what to look for when annotating.

1. Circle new vocabulary words. Always remember to keep a dictionary next to you while you read so you can look up new words or phrases.
2. Underline new characters and place names.
3. Write your own thoughts and opinions in the margins.

Sticky tabs (especially when they are color-coded) are another great way to annotate a book without actually marking up or highlighting the pages. This method is ideal if you are borrowing a book from the library or renting it from a used textbook dealer that doesn’t want you to write in the actual book.

There are only two types of readers: those who annotate, and those who think writing in a book is committing literary treason. To jot notes in a book seems in some way blasphemous, especially in a really good book. The words are meant to be pristine, the books printed are meant to remain just as they are.

How To Take Notes On A Novel

1. Define a clear purpose first for the reason you are taking note for this novel.
2. Note down anything of interest that is relevant as you are reading through or by page numbers.
3. By the end of the chapter, reflect upon what you just learned.

5 strategies to make reading a novel easy

1. Read for comprehension. This is always the goal when we read anything.
2. Pay attention to repetition. Novelists are typically extremely detail oriented when writing their novels.
3. Read with themes in mind.
4. Know your literary elements.
5. Watch for interpretations when reading a novel.

Do not take notes or highlight as you read; this tends to break up your flow and diminish your understanding. It also isn’t very productive, because you don’t know if the first sentence is worth taking notes on until after you have read the third sentence, which might be the real point of the paragraph.

Additionally, removing a sticky note from a fragile book can easily lift ink and tear pages, and the notes are often made of poor quality, acidic paper which will cause damage over time.

Helpful tips

1. Write notes in your own words instead of copying down information from the book.
2. Avoid over-highlighting.
3. Wait until the end of a page to take notes so that you can better focus on what you are reading and so that you can try to summarize in your own words rather than copy.

How To Take Great Textbook Notes

1. Review Your Assigned Reading List.
2. Create An Outline.
3. Always Start From The Beginning.
4. Read One Section At A Time.
5. Use Your Memory To Start Your Notes.
6. Add Important Details.
7. Repeat For All Sections.
8. Summarize The Reading.

50 pages

How To Abbreviate Words

1. Use the first part of words.
2. Use the start and end of the word.
3. Eliminate vowels.
4. Make your own.
5. Use symbols.
6. Leave out periods.
7. Use the first syllable and first letter.
8. Get rid of the end of the word.