Social Annotation in K-12 Education

Across disciplines, annotation is a routine and standards-based instructional practice in many K-12 schools. Research demonstrates that, when paired with thoughtful instruction and mentor texts, annotation benefits students’ active reading skills, reading comprehension of both literature and nonfiction texts, and the acquisition of another language. Students who annotate texts individually can improve their recall and retention of information, and students who annotate texts together can create shared meaning through collaboration. Many of the literacy skills encouraged by annotation — such as textual analysis, written communication and metacognition — are broadly considered to be critical when preparing high school students for post-secondary success.

Research about annotation in K-12 science education indicates that this cognitive reading strategy helps students engage in scientific argumentation and develop conceptual understanding. Annotation has also been effectively used to guide K-12 science educators in planning more equitable instruction and assessment, as well as in using open educational resources available in the National Science Digital Library

The above is excerpted from our white paper, “The Value of Social Annotation for Teaching and Learning: Promoting Comprehension, Collaboration and Critical Thinking With Hypothesis.”

Check out quick clips from Liquid Margins 22, “Literacy and Learning With Social Annotation in High School,” to hear annotation strategies from Morgan Jackson, High School English Teacher at Bishop Gorman High School, and Joe Dillon, English Teacher and Instructional Coach at Gateway High School.

Enjoy the entire Liquid Margins 22 episode.

Watch and learn more from the K-12 panel at iAnnotate 2021