Annotation Digital RC

[falconbridge]

Hello,

I have gathered that the supposed key to mastering reading comprehension is not to read the passages once thoroughly and then rely on your memory to answer the questions, but to mark them up as you read to create a kind of “roadmap” that you can later use to quickly locate and extract information when necessary.

Now, in the absence of being able to create digital annotations it seems you are left with a few options. First, you could create the “roadmap” on paper; I.e,. scribble “paragraph 1: tone/argument, paragraph 2: viewpoint” and so on and so forth. Second, as I have seen suggested by a Powerscore instructor on this forum, you could underline instances/indicators of structure, tone, arguments, and main point and highlight changes of viewpoint. Third, and I believe lastly, you could use different colours to highlight the different aforementioned features/indicators.

Regarding the first method, I believe it is entirely too cumbersome. Between looking up at your monitor and then down at your paper and picking up and dropping your pencil it seems you would waste far too much time. Not to mention the actual scribbling of the annotations themselves.

Regarding the second method, it seems that the purpose of creating the “roadmap” is to be able to quickly locate important features of the passage; however, by using an underline to denote four distinct features (structure, tone, arguments, and main point) it seems this purpose is frustrated. This is because, upon reflection, you cannot immediately recognize when your underline represents say, tone, and when it represents say, structure. Thus, you are required to spend time demarcating between the meanings of your various underlines.

Finally, regarding the third approach, I believe that the reasons for rejecting it go without saying.

Thus, all-in-all, it seems that insofar as reading comprehension is tested digitally there is no effective method by which one can create a “roadmap.” This is leaving me very frustrated and discouraged; any thoughts?

Kind regards,

Falcon

[Adam Tyson]

Note-taking in RC is for sure more challenging in the digital test than it was on the old paper exam, Falcon! After much experimentation, my favorite method is a version of the first one you listed - after each paragraph I pause briefly to jot down what that paragraph contributed to the overall passage (definitions, a problem, author viewpoint, etc.) I no longer even try to take any on screen notes, because the tools they provide in their software have been unreliable.

But ultimately, how you take notes is a personal choice. You need to explore and try different methods until you find what works best for you, as I did. Think about creating an index on paper that will tell you where the key info is, so that when you go back to the passage to answer questions (which you should be doing for most of the questions - do NOT trust your memory) you will know where to look. Even if you never again look at your notes, the act of taking them can help you to understand how the passage is organized.

In short, practice until you find YOUR best method.

[broth99]

Hi Adam,

So for the first method that you suggested, are writing down all the text elements and viewpoints that appears in that paragraph or is it more of a sentence that summarizes that paragraph. Also approximately how long does it take you to read and annotate. Cause when I tried the method you suggested, I really liked it, but it took me about 3-4 mins depending on the length of the passage to read and annotate. So, just wanted to compare and see if I needed to improve my speed.

Thanks,
Barath S.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Barath,

I'd think less in terms of sentences and more in terms of bullet points--that will reduce the amount of time spent making notes

And, more importantly, as Adam said above this is a personal choice. For me, I don't write down anything any more. And that works for me but it likely not the optimal strategy for others. The issue here is that no single solution works for everyone, so you want to try a range of strategies and find the best one for you (and it looks like you are doing that, so you are on a good path).

Good luck!

[broth99]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for answering that question. But may I ask how you annotate the passages when you are tackling them. I know you said you don't take notes, so does that mean you scrap the scrap paper and just stick to highlighting and underlining the important parts.

Thanks,
Barath S.

[Dave Killoran]

I use a more minimalist approach now, and highlight a few lines here and there that strike me as critical. This is because to my way of analyzing, the separate scratch paper notes don't add anything to my understanding. The diagrammatic notes I previously made on the passage itself (back when you could draw on them) tended to be visual--brackets, or a 1 and 2 to mark successive points. It was a "picture is worth a 100 words" kind of notation. Trying to do that to the side on a separate piece of paper really undermines the utility in my opinion (it really can't be done), so for me I don't make notes on the scratch paper at all. That's certainly not the case for others though, and each person has to find the style that suits them best!

Thanks!

[broth99]

Thank you so much for your input Dave!!!

Best,
Barath S.

[German.Steel]

Do you recommend any amount of highlighting/underlining in the passages? I've tried with and without, and while highlighting seems to help me notice the key concepts/transitions better, it slows me down badly, divides my focus between the passage and the highlighting, and idk I don't feel like I refer back to the highlights much, which makes it kind of superfluous.

Very frustrated with RC...I feel like I've been in -2 or -3 mode for awhile even though I can routinely get -0 on LR and LG. Don't know what I'm missing.

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Do you recommend any amount of highlighting/underlining in the passages? I've tried with and without, and while highlighting seems to help me notice the key concepts/transitions better, it slows me down badly, divides my focus between the passage and the highlighting, and idk I don't feel like I refer back to the highlights much, which makes it kind of superfluous.

Very frustrated with RC...I feel like I've been in -2 or -3 mode for awhile even though I can routinely get -0 on LR and LG. Don't know what I'm missing.

Hi German!

Thanks for the post! I have moved your post to a similar thread. Please review the responses above, particularly the comment from Dave, and let us know if this helps!

Thanks!

[German.Steel]

Thanks Stephanie. I think Dave's approach makes the most sense to me. Appreciate the insight!