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Each Saturday, I write an email newsletter on "3 Things," which is a random list of ideas on learning, leadership, and life. This format gives me both structure and routine in my writing and allows me to expand on some ideas while focusing on conveying them concisely. Below is one of the emails that I wrote this past 2024, and due to its popularity, I wanted to reshare it here on my blog. If you are not a part of this community and are interested in joining the email list (it is 100% free!), you can sign up here.
The 3 New C's To Consider?

I don't know what was on my mind while at the gym, but I thought about the "Cs" that are often shared for education. I have seen anywhere between 4-7 "Cs" and found this one based on Michael Fullan's work:

All of these Cs are important, but can they be consolidated into 3? Not only to support the theme of this email but also to make them more concise, memorable, and adaptable to each community.

Here are the three Cs that came to mind and I wanted to use this space as a way to write to learn. This is definitely a work in progress!

One of my favorite articles from the past decade is this one from Will Richardson titled "Curiosity is the Cat."

Richardson shares the following:

"I mean really, when it comes to learning, what comes before curiosity?

...Think of most skills, all the stuff that doesn't show up on the report card, all the stuff that probably matters more than the stuff that shows up on the report card, and you'll find they are steeped in curiosity. Problem-solving, problem-finding, persistence, cooperation, adaptability, initiative...(add your 200 more here). Which of those doesn't require being curious first and foremost? Can you be any of that if you're not?"

Will Richardson

As Richardson argues, kids are curious as they enter school, but does "schooling" light that flame or extinguish it?

Another reason that I think being "curious" matters is that we live in a time where confirmation bias is more prevalent than ever, and curiosity about why someone feels the way they do is a better way to bring people together rather than dismissing them because their thoughts, knowledge, and experience are different from ours.

Curiosity is not just about information; it can also lead to a better understanding of others, especially those who think differently than we do.

This leads to my next "C."

I feel that this can be a multi-pronged "C" as "connection" can be with content, others, and yourself.

Here is what I mean:

a) Connection with Content - Everyone reading this email will have different takeaways based on their experience, knowledge, and what they hope to get from the information. I wrote about this in a post titled " 3 Reasons Why All Learning is Personal " and shared the following:

Content is more likely to stick if we create our own connections to the information.

b) Connection with Others- We live in a time with incredible opportunities to connect with people across the globe, but are we forsaking and taking for granted the opportunity to connect with people in our local communities? Both are important, but I am concerned that we are losing an appreciation for what is in front of us for what is on the other side of a screen.

(P.S. I am not just talking about students!)

c) Connection with Self - Collaboration is essential, but how can we contribute to others without time to know ourselves? Personally, I try to incorporate many "brainwriting" activities in the professional learning opportunities I deliver because it gives people time to process for themselves and create their own connections to content before they connect with others (see what I did there?).

Also, I love this quote:

Isolation and collaboration should work in tandem and not be considered opposites.

I considered making this a 3A and 3B situation since creation isn't much with meaningful consumption.

Years ago, I remember listening to John Medina, author of "Brain Rules," say this, and it always stuck (paraphrasing his words below):

"Creation without meaningful consumption is the equivalent of playing the air guitar: you might know the motions, but you don't know how to actually play."

John Medina

Creation, though, is what I see as an endpoint or output from our time in education. What has ultimately been created from our time in schools?

This is why I am so adamant about going beyond a "growth mindset" and focusing on developing an "Innovator's Mindset":

What we do with what we know matters most in a time when we have access to all the information in the world and to each other.

This was a great quote I also shared in " The Innovator's Mindset" from The Center for Accelerated Learning:

Creating "new meanings" from the content we consume is crucial.

I remember seeing a stat years ago (I have no idea of the accuracy, but it is excellent for consideration and conversation) that said something like this: 95% of people online consume content, and only 5% create it.

Is that true? I have no idea.

But what is the percentage of time students spend in school consuming information versus creating it? I have no idea the answer; it is asking the question that matters.

I wrote this in " The Innovator's Mindset " on the topic of creation, and I still believe it to be true:

"Consider how much deeper learning could be if 'creation' was a
non-negotiable in the learning for both us and our students."

George Couros, The Innovator's Mindset

If you want creation to be part of the classroom experience, time must be provided in professional learning experiences for the adults to do the same. The best way to change the learning experience for students in the classroom is to create for the adults first.

So there you have my 3 C's. Honestly, writing this all down openly helps others in their learning experience the way it has helped my growth.

As I was writing this email, I thought about how taking the time each week to ask questions and challenge what we know, connect my own learning, and create a reflection to share with others embodies what I just wrote.

Driven by curiosity, making connections and ultimately creating something with this information will help me better understand my own thinking.

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The 3 New C's To Consider? The Importance of Creation, Connection, and Curiosity in Education - George Couros

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Each Saturday, I write an email newsletter on "3 Things," which is a random list of ideas on learning, leadership, and life. This format gives me both

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Gamification

As humans, we're naturally drawn to competition, play, and socializing through games. And, as it turns out, so are our students. According to a 2018 Pew Research study, approximately 97 percent of males and 83 percent of females play games on a regular basis, and it is safe to say that number has not gone down.

While playing games is a popular and enjoyable way to engage with others, designing a game can be a fantastic way to demonstrate understanding. Game design is a great way to bring the fun and engagement of gameplay into the classroom. Below you will find 8 steps for game creation in the classroom along with game design resources you can use right away!

8 steps for successful student game design

1. Play a bunch of different games

2. Practice reskinning and remixing existing games first

Engaging in remixing activities helps students begin to develop their own design skills in a more scaffolded manner, which can be done through the GameStormEDU Designer Workbook.

If you want to brainstorm and plan your very own game, this designer workbook can make it happen. Grab a digital copy and get started!

6. Create a playable prototype

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Game design in the classroom: 8 steps to get started

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This post is written by Jon Spike. Jon is a Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Integration at UW-Whitewater, collaborating with preservice

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Listen to the interview with Jamie Chaves:
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"If it hasn't been in the hands, it can't be in the brain." This is a quote I see every morning when I drop my daughter off at preschool. Even though she hasn't studied sensory integration theory or neuroscience, my daughter's teacher knows this from experience.

My biology teacher in high school embraced this idea as well. I remember more from his class than any other I've taken because he fully embraced multisensory learning - learning that integrates multiple senses at one time. We created diagrams of a cell body, acted out the different genetic combinations of Mendel's pea plants, drew out and recited aloud the steps in the Krebs cycle, and used PTC paper to determine if we were a taster or non-taster.

The brain is an integration machine. Research shows that there's a synergistic effect to multisensory learning: when more than one sense is accessed during a learning experience, learning is boosted, even from a very young age (Benstead, 2020). For example, when an infant sees and touches an object, the brain lights up significantly more than when the infant only sees the object. This is also true when the infant sees, touches, and hears an object compared to just seeing and touching the object. This highlights the importance of multisensory learning in order for the brain to make connections and integrate information. And if you've ever been around a toddler for more than 10 minutes you'll experience this first hand - they want to move and touch and talk while they perform a task.

Sensory integration, in so many ways, sets the foundation for learning. The sensory systems must work in concert to facilitate things such as regulation, attention, sitting upright, writing, reading, organizing materials, and engaging socially, to name a few. When we engage students in multisensory learning we're not only enhancing their learning experiences and brain integration; we're also facilitating the development of these foundational skills. This is why things "being in the hand" is so important, particularly during the early stages of learning. Yes, when we hold a flower in our hands and smell it, we are learning about the softness of the petals, the sweetness of its smell, the delicateness of how it must be held. But we are also sustaining our attention, organizing our body movements, and sharing the experience with others much more than if we were simply looking at a picture of that flower in a book.

When we break down the sensory systems it is truly remarkable how they serve as the building blocks to regulation, engagement, exploration, safety, movement, social interaction, and brain integration. By applying some basic principles of sensory processing to your teaching, you'll remove unnecessary barriers and boost learning in some pretty significant ways.

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Getting Acquainted With Our 8 Sensory Systems

Many people have heard of the five external sensory systems: touch (tactile), sound (auditory), sight (visual), taste (gustatory), and smell (olfactory), but there are actually three more internal sensory systems that drive much of our behavior: vestibular, proprioceptive, and interoceptive. Once you know more about the breadth and depth of the sensory systems and how they impact students' ability to learn and engage, you will have another lens through which to view behavior and ask questions to support all of your learners. Plus, you can start to use sensory information to your advantage at different points during the day, both for you and for your students.

Auditory input is what we hear. This input helps us determine spatial awareness, engage socially, maintain attention, feel a sense of environmental safety, and sustain balance.

Visual input is what we see. We use this information for environmental awareness, eye-hand coordination, balance, sense of safety, orientation in space, depth perception, and social engagement (like reading non-verbal cues).

Tactile input is what we touch and feel. This sense allows us to build self-regulation; gain emotional security; manipulate objects; learn about texture, pain, and temperature; and establish body awareness.

Gustatory input is what we taste. We use this information to know what is safe and desirable to eat and drink.

Olfactory input is what we smell. We use it when we eat and drink, for environmental safety, and for emotion related to our memories.

Proprioceptive input is how we perceive our body in space; it is, essentially, our body awareness. It helps us facilitate grading of force, hold and manipulate objects, build self-regulation, and navigate the environment (without bumping into things).

Vestibular input is how we perceive our relationship to gravity and orientation in space. We use this information for balance, muscle tone, maintaining alertness and attention, motor coordination, sustaining an upright posture, and visual orientation.

Interoceptive input is how we perceive our internal needs. We use this sense for emotional awareness, bodily needs, and sense of safety.

How the Subtypes of Sensory Processing Impact Learning

Along with the different sensory systems, there are a few different subtypes of sensory processing that can be considered in multisensory learning. Each of the eight sensory systems has two subtypes: sensory modulation and sensory discrimination. Then there is another subtype of sensory integration called sensory-based motor skills.

Sensory Modulation

Modulation is essentially the brain's ability to dial up or down how much sensory input is received to prevent too little or too much stimulation. In the classroom students must filter out visual input on the walls to focus on what is being written on the board. They must also receive enough vestibular input in order to sit upright in the chair.

Sensory modulation is linked with our feeling of safety. When we perceive a particular sensory input as unsafe, this can trigger a flight-fight-or-freeze response via activation of the amygdala. Sirens are loud for a reason: they signal to our auditory system that something is wrong and we need to act.

What this means for teachers: Sensory modulation varies from student to student and from situation to situation. This will impact how they behave in school on a particular day or in a particular class. Factors such as sleep, diet, and life changes can impact sensory modulation because our nervous systems feel more stressed (consider how things seem louder, faster, brighter when we don't get enough sleep!). When a student has a strong reaction to sensory input - for example, touching a slimy, wiggly worm in science class for the first time - co-regulation in a positive, safe relationship is often critical in calming that student's nervous system. In our books, we define co-regulation as "attuned and responsive interactions between a child and adult that allow them to reach a state of regulation together" (Chaves & Taylor, 2020). A teacher's calm presence, non-verbal cues, and verbal communication helps to facilitate co-regulation. This co-regulation is also protective in subsequent experiences that are similar so the nervous system learns not to be triggered by sensory inputs that are not necessarily unsafe. Think about how a teacher's co-regulation while the student is touching the worm can make her feel calm and safe with each successive exposure: the teacher might relax his body, get down on the student's level, smile at the student, and reflect how the worm might feel in order to co-regulate with the student.

It is important to note that students who are understimulated - that is, do not respond as readily to sensory input - are often overlooked because they don't necessarily "act out" like overstimulated students. Students who take a long time to respond to their name, or need physical touch along with the verbal cue, may have difficulty "dialing up" the amount of auditory input needed. Or a student who wants to lie down on the carpet during circle time may have an understimulated vestibular system, causing him to not receive enough input to maintain an upright position. He may need to stimulate his vestibular system by jumping up and down several times before sitting on the rug to "wake up" his body. Not having enough sensory input to the brain can impact learning just as much as having too much!

Sensory Discrimination

Discrimination is how we differentiate the temporal (time) and spatial (space) properties of sensory input so we can make meaning out of it and use it to engage in meaningful activities. This is what we do with the input rather than how we react to the input.

For example, we might feel a spider crawling on our arm (sensory modulation) and we can tell where and how fast the spider is moving (sensory discrimination). Students use discrimination to hold a pencil and push down on the paper with the right amount of force. They discriminate where a sound is coming from when a peer calls their name out at recess. We also use discrimination to discern the difference between similar textures, sounds, sights, movements, internal needs (including emotions!), tastes, and smells. When a student reaches into the depths of her backpack to pull out a pencil, not a marker or crayon, she is discerning a difference in the textures. This can also help us anticipate the properties of sensory inputs such as knowing what a gymnasium is likely going to smell like versus what a cafeteria will smell like.

What this means for teachers: Students rely heavily on sensory discrimination to perform tasks with precision, and repeated exposure to a wide variety of sensations helps to enhance discrimination. Sensory discrimination requires our attention, and is more of a conscious process compared to modulation - differentiating the letter "b" from "d" is a higher-level cognitive demand compared with simply seeing there are letters on the paper. A student with sensory discrimination differences will require things to be presented in a variety of ways over the course of several instructional periods. Drawing on multiple senses, and doing activities with varying intensity, duration, and speed, will help bolster the discriminatory abilities of the targeted sensory input. If we keep with the letter "b" and "d" discrimination example, a student may need to not only see the letters but also form them with her body, write them in shaving cream, identify them in different fonts, use a mnemonic, trace them fast and slow, etc.

Sensory-based Motor Skills

Sensory-based motor skills are required for praxis (ideation, motor planning, sequencing, motor execution) and postural stability; this is the last identified subtype of sensory processing. Sensory-based motor skills combine tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive information for motor output. These skills help us organize plans for an activity, coordinate movements, learn new movements, maintain an upright position, shift position accordingly, and effectively use oculo-motor skills. When a student must take out a book from his desk and turn to a certain page, he is using sensory-based motor skills.

These are the foundation for building strong executive function skills - organizing our bodies must come before organizing other aspects of life! As students learn to better manage the movements of their bodies, and do so in a smooth, coordinated manner, they will also better learn to manage their environment such as self-monitoring their learning and sequencing their ideas. Sensory-based motor skills allow for automaticity of movements that promote efficiency in navigating the world and free up more brain space for higher level cognitive tasks.

What this means for teachers: Students will have different degrees of sensory-based motor skills, so keep this in mind when observing their actions. Just think: as toddlers improve in their ability to walk, they can soon focus more on what they see or hear when they walk instead of simply staying upright. The same is true for students: those with strong sensory-based motor skills can listen to instructions while completing their work instead of stopping what they're doing in order to solely focus on what the teacher is saying. Dyspraxia - a form of difficulty with sensory-based motor skills - can be quite frustrating for a student, often resulting in avoidance of a challenging activity, low self-esteem, and compensatory behaviors (such as doing things quickly to mask the inability to do something well, or acting silly as a means of self-deprecation). It is important to provide these students with considerable time and patience, especially when introducing a new activity; use backward chaining and scaffolding; and practice co-regulation to decrease the amount of performance anxiety they may feel.

Applying Multisensory Learning in the Classroom

Research consistently supports the use of multisensory learning in the classroom in order to enhance engagement, memory, and information retrieval ( Shams & Seitz, 2008). Providing multisensory learning experiences not only facilitates increased brain integration, it also allows for increased participation from students who learn differently, particularly in the areas of reading and writing ( Waterford, 2019 ). The National Reading Report indicates that only 35% of 4th graders and 34% of 8th graders across the nation scored at or above the proficient level in reading ( National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2019). This suggests that the way traditional schools are teaching reading is not working. All students deserve instruction that meets their needs, and multisensory learning is a great place to start.

Now for the big question: how can I use multisensory input to my advantage in the classroom?

1. Weave In Sensory Inputs AND Sensory Subtypes

First, think about how you can combine 2-3 of the eight sensory systems during classroom instruction and classroom activities in order to enhance brain integration and cater to the learning needs of all students. This might look like:

Playing hopscotch with letters to form spelling words

Standing up when answering a question in class

Rolling a ball back and forth with a partner to name prime numbers

Dressing up as historic figures when learning about them

Bringing in different leaves for students to pass around when teaching about trees

Moving both arms in the air to indicate specific times on a clock

Secondarily, consider how the instruction or activity facilitates sensory modulation, sensory discrimination, or sensory-based motor skills. Some examples include:

Allowing students to sit on a yoga ball chair, t-stool, or wiggle stool provides vestibular modulation that can enhance upright seated posture and attention.

Writing on sandpaper, tissue paper, construction paper, and cardboard provides different surfaces for tactile and proprioceptive discrimination that can enhance writing efficiency.

Setting up stations around the room for students to navigate to and sequence, such as making a map of different climate zones, helps students integrate sensory-based motor skills.

2. Honor Sensory Preferences When Possible

Have you ever noticed that too much light or clutter in a room makes it hard for you to focus? Or maybe you find yourself more engaged and alert when eating a crunchy snack? Sensory preferences are the inputs we lean into or minimize to help keep us regulated throughout the day; too much of non-preferred sensory input or not enough of a preferred sensory input can cause dysregulation, like poor concentration, irritability, frustration, or drowsiness. We all have sensory preferences, and the more we can adjust our learning environment to better fit student preferences, the better they will learn.

There are many ways you can track these preferences, including this one by How Does Your Engine Run? Alert Program. Along with learning your students' preferences, knowing your own sensory preferences can help you identify why there are times of the day or particular students or certain activities that cause you to feel more regulated or dysregulated than others. This will allow you to better co-regulate with students, as well as not feel so drained by the end of the school day.

In our book, Creating Sensory Smart Classrooms, we provide a worksheet that you can use to help identify the sensory preferences of your students. Many of the questions are tailored from the adult checklist mentioned above. Once you know the sensory preferences of your students you can better assess which sensory inputs you should take out of your classroom because they're too distracting or dysregulating, and which ones you should integrate more into your classroom because they're attention-provoking and regulating. And when you notice yourself or one of your students behaving in a way that's indicative of dysregulation, you can go back to this checklist to see if there may be some sensory input that's contributing to that (because the input is too much or because it's lacking).

3. Use Novelty with Intention

The brain responds readily to novel sensory stimuli, which can impact attention and regulation. By using multisensory inputs in the classroom the brain better learns what to pay attention to and what to filter out so that students can be more engaged in learning. When the brain first perceives sensory input, it must attend to that input, essentially to discern its importance: Should I focus more on this or not? Once a sensory input happens enough, the brain learns to habituate to that input so resources can go elsewhere (for example, we don't think about the lights in a classroom each time we enter, we think about the conversations happening). However, when a new sensory input happens- when something changes in the otherwise familiar environment- the brain will now attend to that input to assess its safety and importance (when the lights turn off in the classroom we shift our attention away from the conversation to attend to the change in stimuli). This shift causes an increase in focus and attention to that new stimuli.

When students hear you talking in your typical tone and volume, then you shift to a whisper or a different accent, the brain says, "Hey, that's different; I should pay attention!" Or, if your students typically write on regular paper, they might be more engaged by writing on textured paper or with textured pencils because the brain enjoys the novelty of the sensory experience. Alternatively, if your students seem to be distracted when you change what's hanging on the walls each month, you might only change one or two things so they're not so focused on the novelty.

4. Engineer the Environment with Sensory Inputs

Finally, there are certain sensory inputs across the board that tend to be more calming rather than stimulating. Most everyone can agree that sleeping with the lights off, lying down, and with soothing music is more conducive than sleeping with the lights on, standing up, and with heavy metal music. This is slightly different than sensory preferences, which are more tailored to each individual. In this way, you can manipulate the sensory environment of the classroom to engage more (or fewer) sensory systems when learning. Students may need different inputs at different times of day, depending on arousal level.

For example, turning off the lights and turning on calm music when returning back from lunch/recess can help reset the tone for engaging again in focused learning. Or they might need more movement-based learning experiences and alerting essential oils at the end of the day when their bodies and brains are becoming unfocused from fatigue. Be a scientist: play around with the sensory environment in your classroom and see what happens- then adjust accordingly after observing the responses of your students (and of yourself!).

We know both through experience and through science that the brain learns best with multisensory learning opportunities. When we touch, manipulate, smell, taste, move around, and focus in on, this allows for more integration to occur which ultimately strengthens the cognitive connections in our brains. Start with one or two multisensory activities per day and then work your way up to using one or two multisensory activities in each class period. You might notice that some students will struggle with multisensory activities because it's challenging their brain. If that's the case, remember to co-regulate with that student before figuring out a "just right" multisensory challenge. Maybe a student is too overwhelmed with walking around the classroom to find examples of symmetrical objects; instead have her sit at her desk to draw symmetrical objects. By using multisensory learning you will set and build on a strong foundation for brain integration.

References

Benstead, S. (Director). (2020). Babies [Series]. Netflix.

Chaves, J., & Taylor, A. (2020). The "why" behind classroom behaviors: Integrative strategies for learning, regulation, and relationships. Corwin.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (2019). The Nation's Report Card. https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading

Shams, L., & Seitz, A. R. (2008). Benefits of multisensory learning. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(11), 411-417. https://faculty.ucr.edu/~aseitz/pubs/Shams_Seitz08.pdf

Waterford. (2019, March 5). Why multisensory learning is an effective strategy for teaching students how to read. Waterford.org. https://www.waterford.org/education/why-multisensory-learning-is-an-effective-strategy-for-teaching-students-how-to-read/

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How to Leverage Multisensory Learning in Your Classroom

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Applying these basic principles of sensory processing to our teaching will help us remove unnecessary barriers and boost students' learning.

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Listen to the interview with Andrea Castellano and Irene Yannascoli:
Sponsored by Listenwise and Studyo

"Make your paper dirty."

I get some funny looks when I say it at first, but it gets the point across. What I mean is I'm looking for annotations. I teach third grade, when young readers typically transition from developing readers to fluent ones, and it's at this stage that they're ready to begin to analyze texts on a deeper level. For that reason, this is the perfect time to introduce them to annotation.

Annotation - marking up and making notes on a text - can be an extremely effective tool for improving comprehension and increasing levels of criticality and engagement. By making these metacognitive markings, students are able to process a variety of texts in unique and meaningful ways. The thing is, it can vary in effectiveness, depending on which classroom you look into, if it's being taught at all. You may have personally found that you aren't getting the results you want from your approach.

After some trial and error, I have developed my own method for teaching annotation, which I'll share here, along with the process my colleague Irene Yannascoli uses at the high school level. Whether you teach ELA or another content area, chances are your students read in your class. And if they read, there's a chance they might need to annotate. Hopefully this post can offer some strategies to help your students establish annotation as part of their regular reading practice.
[skip to high school process]
Elementary Process

Prescriptive vs. Responsive Annotation

One major hurdle students face is deciding what to annotate. Some students are hesitant to mark anything at all while others underline or highlight nearly every sentence in the text. Some teachers have attempted to remedy this by taking a prescriptive approach to annotation. They direct students to locate specific details and what to do when they've found them, saying things like, "find and underline the sentence that proves the character is sad," or "box two words you don't know in paragraph 2." It's like a scavenger hunt: Find three things, answer three questions.

I've used this approach in the past, and it certainly is a great way to get students to notice and name things, but what I kept noticing is that whenever I stopped prompting students to make their annotations, they stopped making them. They were so dependent on my guidance that they never took ownership of the process.

Eventually I realized I needed to teach my students to develop their own systems for annotating. The responsive approach I'm advocating here centers the reader on the basis that we all bring our own perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the text. As much as our interpretations are varied and nuanced, so are our annotations. Teaching students to navigate text as active readers helps them make sense of what they read. Artful annotation is what happens when they're inspired to respond in their own unique way.

Getting Started

One thing teaching has taught me is that straightforward visuals reduce cognitive load and allow students to concentrate on what's important. To simplify annotation for my students, I designed a template (below) with space on the left for me to paste the text and cells on the right and bottom for note-taking.

At the point in the year that we start this process, I've already taught all the literacy concepts they'll need for this activity, such as theme, figurative language, text structures, and more. What this template does is sort each concept into one of two lenses: key words & ideas, and craft & structure. We then comb through the text with these two in mind, asking and answering over and over, What is the author saying? and How are they saying it? To remind them of what to look for, I provide the following graphic on the template. This is a list of look-fors that encompass most of what they'll encounter as they read.

Modeling Responsive Annotation

To introduce responsive annotation, I use a direct approach to make my thinking as transparent as possible. In addition to modeling the use of metacognitive markers, I talk through each step of the process. Here's a sample breakdown of what that would look like in the early stages.

Introducing Each Lens

1. Choose the lens through which you will be approaching the text. In the introductory stage, it is recommended to read the same text twice - one session for key words and ideas, another for craft and structure. Provide the annotation look-fors as an anchor chart or include it on the template itself.

2. Give students a copy of the text and display your copy of the text for all to see. As students watch, read a section of text aloud, stopping to underline, box, and make notations.

3. Think aloud as you annotate. Read, stop, jot, explain. You are responding to the text as you encounter each element rather than searching the text for specific items. Students should either be watching or copying the teacher's moves at this stage.

Guided Annotation (Whole Class)

To help students learn to prioritize information, the teacher will pose questions that reinforce the points made in the explicit model. This will happen in lockstep as a whole class - independent practice comes later. This stage works best directly following the teacher model so students get to immediately put things into practice.

Guide students through the next section of the text, first by reading it together and then by asking open-ended questions related to the chosen lens. For example:

For Key Words and Ideas:
What is the author saying here?
What words seem important?
What part made you stop and think?

For Craft and Structure:
How does the author show you what the character is feeling in paragraph 5?
Who can find and annotate a connection between paragraph 3 and paragraph 4?
What does the author mean by _____?

Students take a turn with another section of the text. Prompt students to share their thinking and show what they did. This is a great opportunity to validate or course-correct as needed.

Guided Annotation (Individual)

When they're ready for the next stage, provide each student with a new text. Give several minutes to read and annotate, one section at a time. Circulate the room, monitoring and offering feedback. As students make their way through each section, give the green light to move on.
Giving feedback in real time adds encouragement and reinforces desired reading behaviors. This type of gradual release model works best when the teacher is responsive to the needs of the class, moving on only when they're ready.
Once they have the hang of it, students continue to read and annotate on their own. Those who need support can now be pulled into a small group. This is also a good time to implement partner annotation for students who may not be ready to read the text independently.

Continue to use the template to support students as they annotate for either key words and ideas or craft and structure. It can be modified to merge the lenses once they can do both with confidence. After several guided annotation lessons, students should be ready to annotate on their own without needing the scaffolding of this stage every time.

Discussion and Feedback
Now that students have a sense of what to look for when they read, what they need at this juncture is a chance to see what other readers are doing and compare it to their own work. This not only deepens their understanding of the text through discussion, it strengthens their grasp on what they should be noticing.

1. Gather the class and project student work (in my class, students volunteer to share). Prompt students to compare annotations, note their peers' insights, and offer feedback.

2. Allow students to "borrow" snippets of each others' annotations if they wish. This is intentionally a collaborative process that promotes the sharing of insights and ideas.

3. Students can use the template as long as it's needed. The cycle of discussion and feedback can continue indefinitely. At any point, the annotation look-fors can be edited for specific genres, content areas, or other purposes for reading.

Click here to make a copy of the elementary process for your Google Drive.

High School Process: Collaborative Annotation

Whether at the secondary or elementary level ( click here to jump up to elementary), the art of annotation is in making it meaningful. Responsive annotation does just this. Because students often believe there's a "right answer" when annotating, asking them what they notice trains them to use their own funds of knowledge as they read. Like my approach to teaching annotation in elementary, Irene Yannascoli gives her 10th graders the freedom to interact with texts on their own terms, deciding for themselves what is meaningful enough to annotate. She also wants them to use peer insight to practice concepts already reviewed in class, so she makes this annotation process collaborative.

Similar to the elementary approach in the previous section, this process has students consider the text through a given lens; in this case, four core concepts that have already been taught in class: identify (notice and name), analyze (explain and connect), evaluate (judge and discuss impact), and synthesize (put it all together). The purpose of the group annotation is to practice these skills collaboratively.

Introducing Each Lens

In order to set this up:

Choose 4 teaching points from your recent curriculum that you would like students to discuss and practice

Choose a passage that reflects the 4 teaching points.

For each of the teaching points, create guiding questions for students to reference while they annotate. It's not necessary for students to answer all of these guiding questions, and as they get used to the protocol they may use them less and less.

Irene's guiding questions are pictured below.

Note that these concepts and questions are specific to language arts study; they can be modified according to any subject or genre.

Independent Annotation

Start by reviewing the "Group Annotation Practice Protocol" slide (below) with the class.

1. Conduct a read-aloud of the passage. Ask students if they have any questions before they begin. To assess understanding, you may ask them to identify key terms in the passage or answer questions related to the who, what, when, where and why of the passage

2. Students re-read the passage independently and jot down their first thoughts.

This is a preliminary step before they annotate to capture a first impression of the passage, and makes space for any clarifying questions that might arise.

Group Annotation
After students have reread the text on their own, it is time to begin their annotations.

1. Students get in groups and each person claims a focus skill: Identify, Analyze, Evaluate or Synthesize. Now, each group member is following one of the 4 sets of guiding questions using the same passage.

2. After taping a copy of the text to chart paper, each student grabs a marker and for 15 minutes, uses the guiding questions to "make their posters dirty." Each student should be huddled around their chart paper, underlining, drawing arrows, and making notes next to the passage.

3. Circulate and observe each group, helping students deepen their thinking by asking questions and making connections between the annotations.

Discussion and Feedback

1. Students wrap up and review their annotations. Each person shares their thoughts and epiphanies from the annotation process.

2. While the group shares out, the "Synthesizers" answer their last two questions about the commonalities between peers and overall meaning of the passage. They write this on their posters.

3. Students then post their chart paper on the wall and conduct a gallery walk, during which they examine peer charts and make notes on post-its expanding, deepening or challenging the original annotations based on their own reading of the text.

Some sentence starters to move students beyond agree/disagree:
This makes me think about...
I can connect this to...
Additionally, this could mean...
I wonder why...

Students return to their original posters and read what other group members commented. They now have an opportunity to add any final notes, ideas or understandings. If time allows, conduct a whole group share-out: What was something that surprised you, inspired you, or made you rethink?

Assessment

At this point, it's up to you how to assess students for this activity. You might just treat it as a practice for building independent annotation skills and assess students individually on their own annotations on a future passage. You might choose to develop a rubric for this activity and give all group members a score on their poster. Or you might have students write a reflection about their strengths and weaknesses in the process and set goals for the future.
Click here to make a copy of the high school process for your Google Drive.[back to elementary process]
A Few Caveats

Although I explicitly model responsive annotation, I don't expect my students to copy my exact style. Yes, I do tell them to mark up the text as well as make notes in the margins, but I want my students to use metacognitive markers in ways that make sense to them. Some like to underline sentences, others highlight. I circle vocabulary words, others box them. Some enjoy creating their own symbols and methods of organizing their notes in the margins. Recently I've noticed a few students creating systems for highlighting in different colors complete with a key.

It must also be said that not every student needs to or should annotate when they read. Some process text better internally and find the annotation system slows them down or distracts them; others can't handle the multitasking element and just need to focus on reading. The supports provided for accessing the text are just a temporary scaffold anyway. As long as they can demonstrate that they understand what they're reading in other ways, (e.g., through discussion or answering questions) I really don't insist that they do it. But for the majority of students who find themselves glossing over key moments or struggling with comprehension, this process is extremely useful. Ultimately, the decision depends on you knowing your students and what works for them as learners.

So, Is This Really Worth It?

Since we've been teaching annotation this way, Irene and I have both observed a correlation between the quality of annotations on the page and the ability to comprehend text. Incorporating the look-fors into the annotation practice reinforces the concepts skills taught across the year. And the confidence our students have in themselves as readers has also grown. My students say things like, "Annotation has helped me become a better reader" and "Annotation helps me understand the text or the things I'm reading a bit more."

This process is about more than preparing students for standardized tests or giving them a strategy to boost their grades. Our students will be reading and comprehending texts for a very long time - hopefully, for the rest of their lives. While they won't always grab a pen when they sit down with a book, there will be many times they can put these skills to work. If the goal is to process what they're reading, annotation provides them with one way to do so.

Annotating, or "making your paper dirty" as we like to call it, is definitely an acquired skill. It takes time to learn, but more than likely, it's worth the effort.
References
Duke, Nell & Pearson, P.. (2002). Effective Practices for Developing Reading Comprehension. What research has to say about reading instruction. 3. 10.1598/0872071774.10.

Landmark College. (n.d.-a). Active reading (see also critical reading). Active Reading | Landmark College. https://www.landmark.edu/academics/writing-matters/wac-glossary/wac-active-reading

Lloyd, Z.T., Kim, D., Cox, J.T., Doepker, G.M. and Downey, S.E. (2022), "Using the annotating strategy to improve students' academic achievement in social studies," Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 218-231.

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