I know it can be hard to convince reluctant middle school science students that good reading skills are important at all, let alone in science. Isn't science where we just make a big mess? 😆
You and I know, though, that reading plays a huge role in the job of professional scientists. 👩🔬 They need to be informed about current research in their field. They need to be able to write about their work using sophisticated terms. In other words, they need strong literacy skills! 📖
Annotations are a great way to support students in reading non-fiction text. Students get to mark up print-outs of articles or highlight and make comments on digital documents. It's actually kind of fun if they're used to "don't write in your textbook!"
Here are some specific ways you can use annotation to help students slow down, read for understanding, and make meaningful connections:
📝 Make a Doodle: Science articles are usually chock full of vocabulary. We don't want our students sailing past these words!
Instead, you can help students find the meaning of new words in the context of the article or show them how to look up the terms in a trustworthy online reference (thanks, Britannica!).
Then it's time to get artsy!
Have them make a doodle of the word's meaning right in the margins of the printed article, or have them copy an online image and paste it into the margins of a digital document. Now whenever they come across the word, they'll picture the image they made!
📝 Simple Summary: Readers sometimes want to rush to the end of article even if they don't fully understand everything they're scanning (I'm guilty of that one! 🙋).
Help your students pause for understanding by asking them to make a quick summary of a paragraph once they've read it. No complete sentences required here! A simple shorthand formula like "non-metal + non-metal = covalent compound" or even a fun hashtag like "#nolifewithoutproducers" works perfectly.
📝 Questions & Connections: It's pretty standard for readers to write a question mark by a part of the reading they don't understand or a comment if they have additional info to contribute.
I like to leveling up this type of annotating!
You can place three students into a group after they mark up their articles. Then they write down the name of each student in a table and record the annotations made by each person. Now it's time to talk!
One student may have a question that another student is able to answer. Talking about what one student knows might bring other ideas to mind. This is a great way to start on-topic dialogue and help students share their unique perspectives.
For long passages, I would alternate short rounds of reading/annotating with short rounds of sharing/discussing to mix things up a bit. I always enjoy eavesdropping on these conversations!
Hope these strategies help your students enjoy the process of non-fiction reading a little more.