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I used to frown on the pesents who soiled books with their pencils and highlighters, but my first year of University changed that. I learned that to fully engage with a text you have to be constantly thinking about it. For me, that meant writing with a pencil in hand and marking up my pages. Unfortunately, the books I am reading this time are not my own, and I still see it as a discourtesy to write in other peoples' property. Instead I've been writing on sticky notes. In general I make notes on anything I find interesting, including good lines, themes, characterization, and sometimes figures of speech. I also write questions as I read, which I return to as I flip through the book when I am done. Writing on sticky notes also allows me to color code to some extent. While reading Crazy Man, pink became notes relating to Angus, orange became highlighted parts of importance and green/blue were teaching ideas.
Using sticky notes is definitely something I would encourage my students to do while reading, though I think the activity would have to be better scaffolded. For instance, I would ask them to read a certain section and use stickies to mark figures of speech, or character traits. Then we could use these stickie notes for later references. Not only does it add a visual nature to reading, it forces students to think as they read, and thus read for better comprehension.
Using sticky notes is definitely something I would encourage my students to do while reading, though I think the activity would have to be better scaffolded. For instance, I would ask them to read a certain section and use stickies to mark figures of speech, or character traits. Then we could use these stickie notes for later references. Not only does it add a visual nature to reading, it forces students to think as they read, and thus read for better comprehension.