Self-assessment Annotation Assignment Guidelines

By Lori Elliott of the University of Colorado Denver

Description #

This instructor resource provides guidelines and resources for annotations and student self-assessment.

Assignment #

What is social annotation? #

Throughout the semester we will use the Hypothesis digital annotation tool to share our thoughts about the readings and mini-lecture videos in the course. Hypothesis allows us to socially annotate the readings in the course – meaning we are able to share our thoughts and ideas about the readings along the margins of the paper as we read, making our thinking visible to each other. Socially annotating the readings allows us the opportunity to communicate as colleagues in asynchronous ways.  

Why socially annotate? #

There are several goals for socially annotating the readings in our course.

• The first is to stretch our thinking by considering the variety of perspectives we all bring related to the topics we read in the course.
• Another goal is to share our thoughts and wonderings about the concepts, ask questions, and add resources such as videos, images, and links to related readings.
• Third, socially annotating our readings allows us to get to know each other and collectively create a lively and safe community of learners.
• In addition to stretching your thinking about the concepts, I also hope that you will gain new ideas about how to apply the information from the readings to your own teaching.

You should approach the activity like a conversation among your colleagues in the field who have similar passions as yours.

How do we do this? #

If you are new to Hypothesis please take a few minutes to read this Introduction to Hypothesis for students and/or watch this video for students. We will have a private space to share our annotations in the course – meaning that only members of our course will see our annotations. And, on occasion, I will divide you into smaller groups within our class so that you can share with fewer people. With each new reading, I will share focus areas to help guide us. For example, we may take different roles as we read, such as “Questioner” who poses questions throughout the reading, “Connector” who finds and shares related resources such as videos or blogs, or “Devil’s Advocate” who challenges the ideas we are reading.   

Instructions for the following reading: #

We will read and socially annotate chapter 10, ‘Challenging the Challengers’ from:

Leland, C., Lewison, M., & Harste, J. (2022). Teaching Children’s Literature: It’s Critical (3^rd ed). Routledge. As we read about the meteoric rise of book banning of children’s literature in recent years, we will use a ‘Compass Point’ questioning strategy to help guide our thinking. Please make at least one post from each of the 4 points (or lenses) listed below:   

• N – ‘North’ – What do you need to know about this topic? What new information did you learn? 
• S – ‘South’ – What is your stance or suggestions about this topic? What scholarly connections can you make to other literature we have read?
• E – ‘East’ – What is exciting or exasperating for you about this topic? What are examples from your teaching that connect to the content?
• W – ‘West’ – What do you worry or wonder about as a teacher related to this topic?   

Also, be sure to respond to a couple of colleagues in the course by elaborating on a point they articulated or sharing a resource with them. And, as always, you are welcome to expand your comments beyond these four areas by posing questions you have, making connections to your teaching, and sharing additional resources you find.

Self-Assessment: #

I will be engaging in conversations alongside you as you reflect on the reading. If needed, I will also provide individual, private feedback with suggestions to guide you in digging deeper (Leland, C., Lewison, M., & Harste, J. 2022) in the annotations you share. At the end of each module, you will self-assess your learning and participation (Afflerbach, P., 2017) by reflecting on the types of comments and connections you made and types of comments you want to elevate for the next collaborative reading.

Here is the guiding rubric for your self-assessment: #