Noting Details

Background from Douglas Fisher

What do we do when we note details?

“We do an intensive analysis of

a text in order to come to
terms with what it says, how it
says it, and what it means.”
Tim Shanahan
 Noting Details
“Focused, sustained reading and
rereading of a text for the
purpose of understanding key
points, gathering evidence, and
building knowledge.
Pearson, page 48
Noting details provide us the opportunity
to assimilate new textual information
with their existing background
knowledge and prior experiences to
expand their schema.

Doug Fisher
Also, to note details effectively is to
develop the necessary habits of readers
when they engage with a complex
piece of text.

Doug Fisher
 How to note details effectively
• Read with a pencil in hand – annotate the
text!
• Look for patterns in the things you’ve noticed
about the text – repetitions, contradictions,
similarities
– This is whatever the teacher wants the students to
look for: key ideas and details, central message or
theme, character traits, etc.
• Ask questions about the patterns you’ve
noticed – especially how and why
 Annotation is a note of
any form made while
reading text.

“Reading with a pencil”

Annotation slows
down the
reader in order to
deepen
understanding.
People have been annotating
texts since there have been
texts to annotate.
Annotation is not highlighting.
Modeling
in 9th
Grade
English
“Noting details must
be accompanied by
other essential
instructional practices
that are vital to
reading development:
interactive read-
alouds and shared
readings, teacher
modeling and think-
alouds.”
--Douglas Fisher
 A final thought….
“If young readers do do
comprehending,
inferring, synthesizing
well—then they’ll move
rapidly up levels to the
kinds of stories where
paying attention to craft,
structure, and language will
become an essential part of
their everyday reading
work.”
-Calkins, Ehrenworth, & Lehman, 2012
A story from the Reader’s Digest

WHY THE DOCTOR WAS HELD UP

 A little before nine, the phone
rang. “Glenn Falls calling Dr. Van
Eyck, said the operator.
“Speaking.”
Who do you think are the major characters in this story?
Do you think the operator is a major character in the story?
 There was the usual go-ahead
please, and then, “This is Dr. Haydon at
the Glenn Falls Hospital. A boy was just
brought in with a bullet in his brain.
He’s hemorrhaging badly and the pulse
is weak.”

“Hemorrhaging” is a big word. What do you think it means?

How do you know? Point out the part in the text that gives
you a clue.
 There was the usual go-ahead
please, and then, “This is Dr. Haydon at
the Glenn Falls Hospital. A boy was just
brought in with a bullet in his brain.
He’s hemorrhaging badly and the pulse
is weak.”
Why fact is Dr. Haydon establishing about the boy
based on what he is telling Dr. Van Eyck? What
does Dr. Haydon want Dr. Van Eyck to do?
 “I’m 30 miles from Glenn Falls,”
said Dr. Van Eyck. “Have you tried
Dr. Mercer?”
“He’s out of town,” said Dr.
Haydon. “The reason I’m calling
you is that the boy comes from
your city. He was spending the
weekend here and shot himself
with a .22.”
 “You say the boy’s from Albany?” asked
Dr. Van Eyck. “What’s his name?”
“Arthur Cunningham.”
“Don’t think I know him. But I’ll get
there as fast as I can. It’s snowing badly, but
I think I could make it before midnight.”
“I ought to tell you the kid’s parents are
poor and there isn’t much chance of a fee.”
“That’s all right,” said Dr. Van Eyck.
 A few minutes later, the surgeon’s car
stopped for a red light in the outskirts of
Albany. A man in a brown leather jacket
opened the door and climbed in.
“Drive straight ahead mister,” he said, “and
better not make a fuss—I’ve got a gun.”
“I’m a doctor,” said Van Eyck, “and this is an
emergency.”
“Never mind the talk,” said the man in the
jacket. “Step on it.”
A mile out of town, he ordered the doctor to
stop and get out.
 It took a half hour for Dr. Van Eyck
to find a phone, and a lot of talking to
persuade a taxi company to send out a
cab. At the railroad depot, he found
the next train to Glenn Falls wasn’t
until 12:10.
 It was after two when the surgeon
reached the hospital. Dr. Haydon was
waiting for him.
“I did my best,” said Van Eyck, “but
my car–”
“It was good of you to try,” said Dr.
Haydon. “The boy died an hour ago.”
 As the two men walked past the
waiting room, Van Eyck suddenly
stopped. On one of the benches, his
head in his hands, was the man in the
brown leather jacket.
“Mr. Cunningham,” said Dr. Haydon.
“Meet Dr. Van Eyck. He came all the
way from Albany to try to save your
boy.”