Annotation

What is annotation?
• A conversation between your mind and the text you are
reading.
 How do we annotate?
1. Read.

2. Underline/Highlight the words that are making

you think.

3. Write your comment in the margin.

4. You can annotate:

hardcopy (pencil)
OR soft copy (iPad/laptop)
So, what do we
annotate for?
It is different if we are
annotating fiction
(literature/imaginary) or if
we are annotating non-
fiction (real/informative)
 FICTION
Not Real
Story Talk
Read to Enjoy
Read in Order
Illustrations
Beginning, middle & end
Characters
Setting
Problem
Solution
 What is SETTING?
• Place: Where does the story/poem/event take place?

EX. Country/Building/Indoors/Outdoors/Forest….

• Time: When does the story/poem/event take place

EX. Era/Day/Night/Season/…..

• Why is setting important?

• It helps you visualize the story.

• It helps you understand the events and characters.

 Setting Activity
• What’s the setting?

1. As the night ended, the sun splashed across Casey’s bed. He opened his eyes
slowly. The first thing he saw was the beautiful blue ribbon on his bookshelf.
2. Jenny ran as fast as she could down the path. There were trees in front of her,
trees behind her, and trees on both sides. While the snow was falling heavily in
the valley, only a few snowflakes made it to the ground around her.
3. Oscar thought it was time to get a breath of air, so he began to make his way to
the surface. Before he reached it, a large shadow came toward him. Was it a
shark? He thought of his parents on the beach. Would this be the end of
vacation?
4. Kwamba the lion cub rolled around near her mother’s feet. Her mother would be
leaving soon to start to hunt. While humans could not see in the darkness, it was
easy for lions. Kwamba hoped her mother would get a gazelle. Those were her
favorite dinners.
(Taken from k12reader.com)
 What are characters?
• People, animals, objects or imaginary creatures that take
part in the story.

• Protagonist (hero) working against Antagonist (villain)

• Main characters and secondary (helping) characters

 Character Activity
Decide what trait the characters below have:

• Brittney was in the middle of telling a funny story when her

teacher asked her to go to stand at the end of the line. “Mrs.
Parker always picks on me,” Brittney muttered under her breath.
“I should have to listen to her.” Britney stuck out her tongue when
her teacher turned around.

• Alex had studied all night for his upcoming spelling test. He knew
how to spell every single word on the list, even the longest word
“permissible”. When his teacher passed out the spelling test,
Alex’s classmates groaned. Alex didn’t though, he knew he would
get a 100%.
 Plot
• The events of the story arranged from beginning to
middle to end.

• Plot Diagram:
 Plot Activity
• What are the elements of the plot in the story?
There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and
Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

Hare ran down the road for a while and then paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out,
"How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?"

Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to relax."

Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare.

Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.

After that, Hare always reminded himself, "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the
race!"
 Tone & Mood
• Tone (cause) is what the author feels about the story about
the story, events and characters. The author’s word choice
can be neutral, positive or negative. Words that describe
tone: amused, tense, playful, serious, sad, gloomy, witty,
angry, tender, bitter,

• Mood (effect) is how the reader feels about the story,

events and characters; the atmosphere of the story. Words
that describe the mood: joyful, lonely, grateful, happy,
romantic, mysterious, frustrating, confident, hopeless,
relaxed, uncertain
 Tone & Mood Activity
Find the tone and mood in the following sentences:

• Bouncing in the room, she lit up the area with a joyous glow on her face as
she told her parents about her surprise. Tone:
_____________________________________
Words from the text: ________________________ Mood:
____________________________________

• She sat in the corner, holding her torn blanket and shaking hard, as she
feverishly searched the room for unknown dangers. Tone:
_____________________________________
Words from the text: ________________________ Mood:
____________________________________
 Vocabulary
• New words
 Vocabulary Activity
What do you think the underlined word means?
How do you know?

• I was excited to go to Disneyland because I had never

been there before.

• We had our last meal because there was no more food

left.

• We had to raise money to prepare the ramadan iftar for

the cleaners at school.
 Prediction
• When you can tell what is going to happen next in the
story based on your feeling.
 Prediction Activity
What do you think happened next?

• Brendon woke up excited and happy. The sun was shining. It was
a perfect day for a trip to the beach. After a few seconds, Brendon
… a. jumped out of bed
b. rolled over and went back to sleep

• Maggie knew a storm was coming. The sky was gray. A strong
wind began to blow. Thunder rolled. Maggie decided to ….
a. go outside and play
b. stay inside with her family
 Question
• A question that pops in your mind as you are reading
about the characters, events, places…
 Question Activity
What do you want to know? What question comes to
your mind?

• This summer vacation I went back to my hometown. It

was the first time I go back after joining university. I
visited my grandparents and told them about my life at
university. Then I went to the firework display near the
river. There were many people and lots of food stalls.
Finally, I went to a reunion with some of my old friends
from school.
 Inference
• A conclusion based on evidence and reasoning.
 Inference Activity
Read each sentence below and make an inference based on
evidence/reasons from the text.

• My mom cooked me a good, filling breakfast. Inference:

• My dad got upset that I got low grades on my report card.

Inference:

• My brother and I walked to the park with a basketball.

Inference:
 Your thoughts, feelings, &
opinion.
• What are you thinking about what you are reading?

• How is the story making you feel?

• What is your opinion of the story, characters, or events?

 Thoughts, feelings & opinion
Activity
• What are your thoughts, feelings, or opinion of this
paragraph?

This summer vacation I went back to my hometown. It was

the first time I go back after joining university. I visited
my grandparents and told them about my life at
university. Then I went to the firework display near the
river. There were many people and lots of food stalls.
Finally, I went to a reunion with some of my old friends
from school.
 Literary Elements/terms/devices
Figurative Language
• Simile: comparing two things using ‘as’ or ‘like’ - ex. She’s as
beautiful as a flower.

• Metaphor: comparing two things without using ‘as’ or ‘like’ - ex. She’s
a flower.

• Personification: giving an object/animal the feature/trait of a person -

ex. The trees danced in the wind.

• Sensory Imagery: words that appeal to one of the five senses (sight -
eyes, sound - ears, smell - nose, taste - mouth, touch - hand) - ex. I could
hear the popping and the crackling as mom dropped the baster into the
frying pan, and soon the salty, strong smell filled the air.
 Literary Elements Exercise
What is the literary element in the following sentences?

• The old man took the sand in his hands and let it slip through
his fingers. It was a starry night, and the drums in the distance
attracted him.

• He’s an angel.

• When I got home from school my dog smiled at me.

• The horse was so white like snow.

 Non-Fiction
Real
Fact talk
Read to learn
Read in any order
Photos, charts, graphs
Table of contents
Index, glossary, bold words, labels
True, information, directions