How to Highlight Text

Research by the top universities in the UK and the USA has shown that students learn better when they read text effectively. For many people, that means attacking the text with a highlighter pen so that it looks something like this:

Today we’re going to learn how to highlight text effectively.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

How to Highlight Text

1. Read the title and any subtitles.2. Chunk the text (draw lines

between paragraphs where breaks occur).

3. Read the whole paragraph then decide what the main idea is.

4. Highlight words, not sentences. 1/3 of the paragraph is plenty.

5. Ignore interesting details, stick to the important information.

6. Write summaries in the margin using you own words.

7. Check - does my highlighting tell what the passage is about?

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

When a student is working toward improving understanding of a text, highlighting could be useful. Students who wish to use highlighting as a study tool should remember that less is best. When too much information is highlighted the mind cannot work out what is important and what is not.

Students should highlight the information that is important to the main idea of the topic. Students need to set a purpose for highlighting. This prevents wasted time and effort.

Don’t highlight too much!

Decide on a focus to save time.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

When a student is working toward improving understanding of a text, highlighting could be useful. Students who wish to use highlighting as a study tool should remember that less is best. When too much information is highlighted the mind cannot work out what is important and what is not.

Students should highlight the information that is important to the main idea of the topic. Students need to set a purpose for highlighting. This prevents wasted time and effort.

TASK 1: READING FOR MEANING

1. Read through the pages of the book in silence.2. What focus should we have for this text?3. Use your highlighter to highlight what you think the important sections of text

are. Remember:1. Read the title and any subtitles.2. Chunk the text (draw lines between paragraphs where breaks occur).3. Read the whole paragraph then decide what the main idea is.4. Highlight words, not sentences. 1/3 of the paragraph is plenty.5. Ignore interesting details, stick to the important information.6. Write summaries in the margin using you own words.7. Check - does my highlighting tell what the passage is about?

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.

TASK 2: UNDERSTANDING

Now answer the questions below. You may choose any 3 questions, but they must be answered well and they should be in line with your ability:

1. Under what conditions do hurricanes form?2. Describe the weather conditions associated with hurricanes.3. Draw a labelled diagram to show what a hurricane looks like.4. Explain why hurricanes vary in strength and how this strength is measured.5. Identify the locations where and months when hurricanes occur.6. Explain how the naming system for hurricanes works.7. Suggest ways that people can prepare for the arrival of a hurricane.8. Evaluate the methods of hurricane prediction (why might they not work so well?)9. Predict the social, environmental and economic costs of hurricanes.

Level 5b, 5cLevel 5a, 6cLevel 6b, 6a

Must – describe why hurricanes form and what weather is associated with them.Should – identify why hurricanes vary in strength and outline when & where they occur.Could – suggest ways to prepare for hurricanes and evaluate these strategies. Give a wide range of impacts of hurricanes.