I am preparing to begin working with a special group of third graders on reading skills and after reading several articles about text annotation, I have decided to work with them on this skill.  It will help me see where they are not only with reading skills, but with comprehension.  As I teach them to annotate, I will get a glimpse into their thinking and comprehension.

As I began searching for text and reading articles to prepare for this, I came across another great one.  The article is entitled Annotation as a Powerful Reading Tool.  The web address is comprehensiontoolkit.com.  It quotes a Harvard College document which is sent to their incoming freshmen in order to prepare them for college academics.  I will quote word for word what Harvard tells these incoming students (guides.hcl.harvard.edu/sixreadinghabits):

          Make all of your reading thinking intensive. . .

          Mark up the margins of your text with WORDS: ideas that occur to you, notes about things that
            seem important to you, reminders of how issues in a text may connect with class discussion or
            course themes. This kind of interaction keeps you conscious of the REASON you are reading and
            the PURPOSES your instructor has in mind.  Later in the term, when you are reviewing for a test
            or project, your maginalia will be useful memory riggers.

            Develop your own symbol system: asterisk a key idea, for example, or use an exclamation point
            for the surprising, absurd, bizarre. . . . .  Like your marginalia, your hieroglyphs can help you
            reconstruct the important observations that you made at an earlier time.  And they will be
            indispensable when you return to a text later in the term, in search of a passage or an idea for a
            topic, or while preparing for an exam or project.

            Get in the habit of hearing yourself ask questions -- "What does this mean?" "Why is he or she
            drawing that conclusion?"  "Why is the class reading this text?" etc.  Write the questions down
            (in your margins, at the beginning or end of the reading, in a notebook, or elsewhere).  They are
            reminders of the unfinished business you still have with a text: something to ask during class
            discussion, or to come to terms with on your own, once you've had a chance to digest the
            material further, or have done further reading.

There is really no reason to wait until students go to college to teach them to really think about their reading.  It should be second nature for them by then!  I have not taught the concept of the symbols, or hieroglyphs, before, but will ease my students into that also after they become comfortable with writing their thoughts in the margins.  As I read that, it made such good sense. 

Harvard includes five other reading habits along with text annotation if you care to check out their website.  They are previewing, summarizing and analyzing, looking for patterns, contextualizing, and comparing and contrasting.  They review all six of these habits in an effort to promote thoughtful reading and help new students become academically successful.  How much easier would it be for college students if they arrive with all of these skills well in place long before their college studies begin!  All teachers, elementary and secondary, can help see that this happens for them.