Reading Methods
Each method below is a structured close reading activity. The colour key shows what each highlight colour means for that method. Click Try it to open an example passage with the method pre-loaded.
Connections Coding
Students read a passage and highlight connections using three colours — one for personal experience, one for other texts, and one for the wider world. Margin notes explain each connection.
QPCI: Quote, Paraphrase, Connect, Infer
Students highlight key quotes, then build understanding in layers — paraphrasing, connecting to prior knowledge, and drawing inferences. Each annotation note walks through all four steps.
Read Between the Lines
Students work through a passage sentence by sentence, highlighting each one and adding a note that explores what is implied but never directly stated. Builds close analytical reading habits.
Sensory Scenes
Students colour-code sensory details in a passage — sight, sound, smell/taste, and touch. Notes describe the mental image or feeling each detail creates. Builds awareness of how authors construct atmosphere.
Deep Questions
After reading, students highlight the most significant or surprising moments and write analysis-level questions — not questions with easy answers, but ones that would spark genuine discussion.
Guided Summary
A structured five-step approach: highlight the main-idea sentences the passage couldn't survive without, then write a one-sentence paraphrase for each. The notes become the skeleton of a summary.
How Do They Feel? How Do You Know?
Students highlight moments where a character's emotions are shown rather than told. Notes name the emotion and explain the textual evidence — what the character does, says, or doesn't do that reveals how they feel.