Highlighting words. Adding notes. Underlining sentences. Though there are many ways to annotate, the little notes will help people understand and appreciate the text, or grow a negative connotation towards it. 

Pro: Teachers should enforce annotations 

   Annotating reading materials has been viewed as a valuable educational tool, as it allows students to engage with texts at a deeper level of understanding. In a recently published education journal, an experiment was conducted to test the effects of annotating historical text; researchers wanted to see if annotations increased comprehension. The experiment proved that the group who annotated performed better than those who did not.

   Although annotations aren’t the most fun, the work is beneficial. Annotations allow students to interact with reading materials more profoundly and critically. “While I do think annotations are exhausting to do, they really enhance and help me in reading passages or books,”  Sr. Lilly Lopez Schulze said. In cases like this, fun is not always the most helpful. Students don’t necessarily like annotations, but they understand their importance.

   Moreover, the act of annotating not only aids in understanding but also helps to deepen engagement with the text. “It [annotating] actually helps me focus more on what I’m reading as it requires me to think more about the text. Annotating helps me understand and appreciate the text. For me, I get more out of reading if I annotate,” said Jr. Brianna Solis. Annotations help students break down complex texts, focus on what is in front of them, and think critically to understand content. 

Con: Teachers should NOT make students annotate

   Despite the helpfulness, annotating ruins the pleasure of reading. Students often worry about annotating for a grade, or participation, rather than the text itself. “When I read I just want to focus on reading. When I have to annotate my mood is ruined,” said Sr. Julia Calel Jones. Students commonly worry more about the correctness of their annotations than what they’re reading.

    A recently published educational article discussed the importance of allowing students to be creative with annotations. When given as an assignment, educators will often highlight what they think is important. This in turn limits imagination and turns annotations into a chore. “…I wish annotating wasn’t forced on us. Yes, it helps me understand better, but sometimes I just want to read without worrying about writing notes,” said Solis. Students may highlight nothing, or everything, in the hope of approval for their work

   Not only is annotating distracting, but it’s very time-consuming. “I don’t like annotating because it takes so much of your time,” said Jones. Reading passages and applying them to the class is lengthy enough. Forcing students to annotate only adds more time and stress, while turning reading into a tedious requirement. 

   While annotations undoubtedly enhance comprehension by providing valuable insights into literature, they also raise doubts about potentially ruining the leisure of reading. The balance between reading and annotating should be taught to enforce the importance of annotating without treating it as a chore.