What is Annotating?

1. What is Annotating? • To “annotate” means to add markings, notes, questions, comments, observations, etc. to the text you are reading. • When annotating you should identify main points, summarizing them in concise statements using your own words. • You should underline key words, write meanings and clarifications in the margins for vocabulary words and various concepts, ask questions about the material you read, answering them as you read, and jot down anything that strikes you as being important. • Annotating is more than underlining. It is thinking about the material you read.

2. Why Annotate? • The textbook is a learning tool and should be used as such. • It is your job to wade through the text, selecting the most important points that need to be remembered. • Marking in the textbook itself is faster than summarizing, outlining, or note taking, and since your material and personal reactions are all in one place (in the margin and on the text page), you can view them at a glance for study rather than refer to separate notebooks or pieces of paper.