Embedded Files
ENGAGE:
Writing in the margins can assist students in understanding a text. Each of the six strategies that comprise this larger instructional practice (visualize, summarize, clarify, connect, respond, and question) should be taught individually, and students should be given time to reflect on them. Once students are familiar with the six strategies and how to use each to aid their understanding, they can then be given the choice to use the strategy that best f its their needs.
The “writing in the margins” strategy identifies and defines six common ways that highly proficient readers think about texts and their own reading process as they read. When thinking metacognitively about texts, students will want to think about which strategies will help them best process the information in the text. They will need to think about their own brains and how they best remember and think critically about information while choosing strategies. More than one strategy can be used at a time.
PREPARATION:
Identify a text for students to read and determine a reading purpose.
Use Educator Resource: Unpacking “Writing in the Margins” to identify which skill to work on with students, making note in the third column of how this might look for the chosen text or content area.
Choose three or four markings for students to make that will aid in their comprehension of the text and reading purpose.
Chunk the selected text into manageable sections.
Create a “Learning Continuum” on the board in the classroom. This is a line drawn with intervals representing “Help me!” to “Getting there…” all the way to “I totally got it!”
STEPS:
READ AND MARK THE TEXT: Ask students to first independently read and mark the text.
STICKY NOTE ON A LEARNING CONTINUUM: Have students write their name on a sticky note and place it on the “Learning Continuum” based on how well they feel they understand the text.
DISCUSS MARKINGS: Instruct students to work with a shoulder partner and discuss their markings. Encourage them to modify their markings as they see fit.
ASSIGN MARGIN STRATEGIES & WRITE IN MARGIN: Assign each individual student one of the six writing in the margins strategies. Using the predetermined chunks, have students write in the margins. (This can be done to all the paragraphs, depending on the length and complexity of the text.)
MOVE STICKY NOTE: Give students the opportunity to move their sticky note on the Learning Continuum based on how well they feel they understand the text after writing in the margins.
GROUP AND DISCUSS: Next, instruct students to join others in the class who had the same writing in the margins strategy. As a group, they will discuss what they wrote for each chunk and why they chose to write what they did.
MOVE STICKY NOTE: Give the students one last chance to move their sticky note on the Learning Continuum based on how well they feel they understand the text after discussing their markings with their group.
SUMMARIZE: Lastly, ask students to independently summarize the text using a Say, Do, Mean Summary:
The text says _____________.
I can do _____________.
This means _____________.
Page updated
Report abuse