How do students annotate digital lessons, and how can I view and respond to their annotations?
Students can use the Annotation Tool to highlight or add notes on both digital 360 Reading and Writing Lessons, regardless of whether they are using a desktop, laptop, or tablet. You can also view their notes and respond or leave feedback. In this article, we cover:
Annotating digital 360 lessons
Using a desktop or laptop
Students can highlight or add a note by using their mouse to select a portion of the text.
To highlight the selected text, students can hover over the highlighter icon and select one of the six colors. Then, to remove a highlight, they should re-select the highlighted text and click Remove highlight at the bottom of the list of color options.
To add a note, they can click the Text icon and type their note into box. When they're finished, they should click All done. All annotations are automatically saved for the student and teachers can access their students' annotations from their Student Annotations page. To edit or remove a note students will need to click the three stacked dots on the right corner of the note. (Note: Depending on their screen size, annotations may show up in the margins as a T icon. Students will need to click that icon to open the annotation.)
Using a touchscreen device
Students can highlight or add a note by using their finger to press and drag the cursor to select a portion of the text.
To highlight the selected text, they can simply tap one of the six colors. Then, to remove a highlight, they should re-select the highlighted text and choose Remove highlight at the bottom of the list of color options.
To add a note, they can tap the Text icon and type their note into box. When they're finished, they should tap All done. All annotations are automatically saved for the student and teachers can access their students' annotations from their Student Annotations page. To edit or remove a note students will need to tap the T icon and then tap the three stacked dots.
If students need help figuring out how to use these tools, you can share this student-facing FAQ: How do I highlight or take notes on my assignment?
Annotating Writing Lessons
Students can also annotate within a digital Writing Lesson. This allows them to annotate learning materials, writing prompts and directions, exemplars, and any embedded texts. Annotating a Writing Lesson works similarly to Reading Lessons. However, in order to see the annotation and highlighting options when selecting the text, students must first click or tap Annotate (to the right of Read Aloud). Then, they can highlight and annotate as they would on a Reading Lesson!
Viewing annotations & leaving feedback
You can view students' annotations on CommonLit 360 assignments from the Student Annotations page for the assignment, even before they have submitted their assignment.
To get view student annotations on an assignment:
- Click My Classes (the teacher) in the menu on the left
- Find the assignment and click the name of the assignment
- Select the Student Annotations tab
Once you're on the Student Annotations page, you can use the Select student dropdown above the assignment to navigate between students. If students are actively working on the lesson and adding annotations, you can click See Latest Annotations to see a live update of new annotations added by the student.
To view their annotations, scroll through the assignment to view comments and highlights the student added. If you're viewing a Reading Lesson, you will need to click to Part 2 to view the text. Additionally, depending on your screen size, notes students added may be indicated by a T icon. You can click the T icon to open the note.
If you want to respond to an annotation or provide feedback, you can do so by using the Reply box and clicking the Reply button to save your response. You can also edit or delete your response by opening the note, clicking the three stacked dots, and choosing to edit or delete.