Text Code Key

As many of you probably know, the concept of metacognitive active reading - more specifically annotations - is abuzz in the education world. In an earlier post, we shared an activity that included using text codes an annotations to monitor thinking while analyzing poetry, spoken word, and songs.

This upcoming school year we are introducing text codes up front. Students will be introduced to the concept of annotations (we are beginning with sixth graders) with a guided lesson that delivers instruction through modeling. We will first present the Text Code Key (a poster will hang in the room and each student will receive a copy of the key to which they can refer when they use the strategy independently).

Click to view. Make a copy to edit.

Next, students will be introduced to the Vale MS Article of the Week. Because we are approaching the curriculum thematically, the classes will be assigned one AoW on a topic related to the essential question(s) each week for the duration of the unit.

I like to use a projector and write on the white board (an older-style projector or any projection camera device will work), so for modeling the text coding strategy I will project a digital copy. All students will have copies of the article and we will preview the text and conduct a shared reading of the article. This allows students to hear how I make connections and ask questions about the text as I read and encourages them to do the same using their personal background knowledge.

During Reading:  Using the text codes from the key, I will draw the text code in the text and make a note to accompany that code in the margin (space is provided on the article handout). You can set a minimum of codes/annotations for students to make, but it's about quality not quantity.

Students volunteer to share their thinking, and this encourages an analytical conversation. The rest of the Article of the Week assignments (embedded responses) will be done independently for classwork or homework, or can be done in pairs. 

This strategy can work with any genre of text. It incorporates several strategies, including analyzing word choice, purpose, and perspective, as well and making inferences and drawing conclusions based on explicit, implicit, and background information.

As always, please feel free to Make a Copy in Google Doc, adapt, and share!

Text Coding: An Analytical Approach

Text coding is a great tool for metacognition. Like other forms of annotating, text coding allows readers to actively track their thinking and monitor their comprehension. Instead of open-ended annotations, text-coding allows teachers to assign symbols (or codes) to specific metacognitive meanings that engage students and prompt them to "think about their thinking."

Text-Coding Chart from our most recent Poetry Unit.

Our most recent educational endeavor has focused on strategies that encourage teachers to move poetry and verse out of April (National Poetry Month; which inconveniently coincides with standards-based test review), chop it into slivers of mini-lessons and activities, and sprinkle it throughout the curriculum map.

It is common practice that poetry is taught in isolation with a strict skill set:  poetic devices and figurative language; even though said conventions are not limited to poetry and verse. In order to link conventions, forms, and structures of poetry to prose, we have to teach students to read and analyze poetry the same way we scaffold understanding and comprehension of prose.

Text coding is a great starting point. Once students annotate the text and monitor their thinking, they then have the tools to analyze, summarize, and synthesize (as it is becoming common to see poems as parts of paired texts and passages used to assess comprehension skills on standardized tests)

The text codes we chose to use are digitally-generated symbols. This lesson (which we will publish shortly) culminates with an independent activity in which students collaboratively text code and summarize a poem (chosen from a variety of genres and accompanied by video/audio) in Google Slides, then work cooperatively to generate questions using SOL stem-starters (after modeling and practice). Students are able to manipulate the text codes in Google Slides by copying and placing their chosen symbols directly into the text and using the Comment icon to share their thinking with their partner or group members.

Click on the Text Code image to view the Slide in Google. Want to edit? To access an editable copy using Google, open the Slide or Doc, click on File, then click Make a Copy. Rename the document and enjoy full editing rights.

As always, please modify and adapt as needed for your students, and feel free to share!