Boost reading comprehension in your classroom and explore the close-reading strategy of annotating and text-coding. This is the quick start guide to use after reading. It is presentation 3 of 3.

1. In The Reader’s Trace, this activity is called “Developing the
Negative.” To use this presentation, your students must have
text-coded and annotated a full-length novel or chapter book
(most likely a fictional narrative). Students must also have kept
their annotations on sticky notes in the book and they should
have collected at least thirty annotations each.
Each student will need ample desk space (or a large sheet of
poster paper) and the Developing the Negative Guided
Worksheet (available as a Reader’s Trace download).
If you allow technology in your classroom, the students can take
pictures of their work space during this activity. This is helpful, but
not necessary.
For the complete program and bonus material, visit:
https://www.picklesandbooks.com/

2. The post-reading period is fertile territory for exploration, and I
wanted to create an activity to capitalize on this and “close the
circle” with reading engagement.
In mulling this over, I wondered if one could utilize students’
annotations to literally trace their thoughts throughout their time
spent in the text.
Specifically, I wondered what the reader’s trace would reveal if
presented spatially. Could scrutinizing a student’s annotations
as they were laid out on a flat surface yield additional insight
into a narrative or, even better, into the student’s reading
process?

3. Feel free to show additional images and videos on developing
film if it will help your students understand the analogy.

4. Don’t belabor the film analogy if it is distracting to your students.

5. Tell your students not to stress about the image on this slide. This
student annotated excessively and possibly to the point of
distraction, but it makes for a good preliminary discussion.
One need annotate only in a manner that is helpful to the reading
process. That will be different for each reader.
Ultimately, the reader, with practice and experience, will choose
when and how to interact with the text.

6. To save time, you could require that this step be completed as
homework prior to the activity.

7. The image on the next slide shows an example of this.

8. Poster boards, tables, and desks will work equally well. Poster
boards will allow for portability, however.

9. This is metacognition in action!

10. There are no correct or incorrect answers. The questions simply
prompt readers to reflect on their thoughts as they read.

11. Some students will create groupings that are irrelevant or not
useful for metacognition. Examples would be grouping
annotations based on the color, size, or shape of the sticky notes
(unless the student deliberately used colors to designate distinct
codes). Encourage the students who do this to regroup.

12. The power of this activity comes from prompting students to reflect on their
thought processes during and after reading. It is metacognitive.
The term metacognition comes from the Greek prefix meta, meaning
“beyond,” and cognition, which derives from the word cognoscere, meaning
“get to know.” Metacognition is often defined as “thinking about thinking” or
“knowing about knowing.”
As children grow and develop, they gradually become aware of their own
thought processes. They grow beyond thinking to having thought
awareness, or metacognition. Thought awareness is similar to self-
awareness, by which individuals become aware of their strengths and
weaknesses and attempt to establish their identity. Both thought
awareness and self-awareness are essential to adolescent development.

13. There are no correct or incorrect answers. The questions simply
prompt readers to reflect on their thoughts as they read.

14. Challenge the students to re-group their annotations. New patterns will
emerge and new thinking will result. The students will make surprising
connections.
Students will struggle here and they will need your support; just avoid
giving them the “answers.” There is huge potential for cognitive growth in
this activity for those students who create new patterns and reflect upon
them. Read the full text of The Reader’s Trace for more information about
the psychological processes at work.
If the stickies have lost their tackiness, encourage students to use tape to
reattach their annotations to their workspace.
Be on the lookout for irrelevant patterns. Laying out annotations in the
shape of a star just for the sake of making a pretty picture would be off-
topic. On the other hand, placing all notes about a particular character in
the shape of a “person,” would be relevant to the activity.

16. Again, there are no correct or incorrect answers. The questions
simply prompt readers to reflect on their thoughts as they read.
Celebrate student insight! These “aha” moments are rare but
developmentally significant.

18. Human beings are social animals. The brain is organized to
utilize social interactions to enhance learning.
According to educators Renate and Geoffrey Caine, “all
students have the capacity to comprehend more effectively
when their needs for social interaction are engaged and
honored.”
Leverage peer interactions whenever possible. This is a
perfect opportunity to do so.

19. I hope you found these quick-start guides helpful. There is much
more available in the full text of The Reader’s Trace, including
worksheets, extension activities, and graphic files of each of the
many text codes I’ve created to assist you and your students as
you annotate.