Highlighting and reading

The use of highlighting or underlying text can be a useful comprehension strategy for students to use while reading various paper or digital text.  In a study by Kerr and Rynearson (2004) three types of reading strategies or tactics were identified, one of which was note-taking tactics which included highlighting text.  An even earlier study by Crowse and Idstein (1972) showed that more information was retained from parts of text that were underlined as opposed to text that was not underlined.  In the age of high stakes testing, many teachers turn to these types of strategies to assist students with reading comprehension questions contained within standardized tests.  One such strategy is called UNRAVEL- which stands for Underline: Underline the title, Number the paragraphs, Read the questions (before reading the passage) Are important words circled? Venture through the passage (as in, journey, take it on, dare to explore it), Eliminate wrong answers Look back for answers (most important step).  This as well as other metacognitive note taking strategies can be extremely beneficial for students who need to understand and remember content that they learn from text.  The main issue or drawback of using highlighting or other note taking strategies when reading is that poor readers tend to highlight information that is not important or relevant. 

Teachers who want their students to benefit from the use of highliters need to teach students reading strategies that enable them to locate important information such as main ideas, or key vocabulary so that they can eliminate possible distractors.  Without being taught what to look for, highlighting can actually detract from learning and actually cause students to misunderstand what is being read. 

Appropriate highlighting strategies can also enable students to be more actively engaged in the reading process.  Students who not only read material aloud or more commonly they read material silently, but also use some type of writing or technology tool to physically annotate certain parts of text, are more likely to comprehend and remember important material.  This strategy can also highly improve the comprehension of students with special needs, who may not be able to independently read and remember information that is found in reading passages. 

With this in mind, highlighting is like many technology tools that are available.  Students need to be taught how to use them correctly, allowing them to experience the appropriate level of scaffolding to ensure that they are using the technique correctly.