By Adrienne Peek of Modesto Junior College
Description #
I use this assignment during the first week of my online classes; it helps ensure that students have actually read the syllabus. Although I teach English, this assignment would work for any discipline.
Purpose #
We’ll use Hypothesis, a social annotation tool, to annotate the texts we read (other class materials, too). Social annotation allows us to engage with each other and the texts we read at the same time. This will allow us to discuss ideas as a class, even though we don’t actually meet in a classroom. As you annotate, you’ll be sharing your thoughts about the reading with each other, as well as asking and answering questions. Additionally, these annotations will serve as notes on the reading that you will be able to use as you write essays in response to the class readings.
Annotation Assignment and Grading Plan #
I have 7-week summer classes beginning on Monday, May 8. Students will read and annotate the course syllabus for the first part of the assignment (due on Tuesday, May 9), and they will respond to each other in the second part of the assignment (due on Thursday, May 10). Although I typically keep the annotating and responses together in the same assignment (but with different due dates), I have split the directions into two separate assignments, each of which is worth 5 points and is graded as “Complete” or “Incomplete.”
The directions for both parts of the assignment are included below.
Actual Assignment Part 1 #
“Annotating” is a form of critical reading that increases reading comprehension and retention. It’s something like “talking to the text” in that you read a bit–say, a paragraph–and then you respond to what you read by writing notes in the margin. In this case, you’ll use an app to annotate the course syllabus and engage in discussion with your classmates.
- Click the “Load Read and Annotate . . .” button at the bottom of this page to load the course syllabus in Hypothesis (the annotating app).
- To create an annotation, select text and then select the Annotate button.
- To create a highlight (visible only to you), select text and then select the Highlight button.
- As you are reading, choose from the following list of active reading strategies and aim to apply at least one to EACH SECTION.
- Predicting:
- I predict…
- In the next part, I think…
- I think this is…
- Visualizing:
- I picture…
- I can see…
- I imagine…
- Questioning:
- A question I have is…
- I wonder about…
- Could this mean…
- Making Connections:
- This is like…
- This reminds me of…
- This is similar to…
- Identifying a Problem:
- I got confused when…
- I am not sure of…
- I didn’t expect…
- Using Fix-Ups:
- I’ll reread this part…
- I’ll read on and check back on…
- Summarizing:
- The big idea here is…
- I think the point here is…
- So what the author is saying here is…
- Predicting:
Actual Assignment, Part 2 #
This is the “class discussion” part of the “Read and Annotate the Course Syllabus” assignment.
Directions: Return to that assignment (it’s on the previous page) no earlier than Wednesday, May 10, and read through your classmates’ annotations. Reply to at least four different people with ideas that seek to clarify or expand your classmates’ ideas. Please note: “I agree” is neither questioning nor expanding!
