Gather your supplies. Annotation requires the use of highlighters as well as pens and pencils. Utilize a small pencil case to store all your annotating supplies. Sticky bookmarks and post it notes are also helpful to have on hand, although they are not necessary.
Read the first paragraph in the book or assignment and pick out the main idea. What sentence effectively sums up what the passage is saying? Underline or highlight it. Do this for the entire page.
Read over the highlighted main ideas and write a short summary of them in the margins. Use a pencil or a pen, and turn the book sideways to get more margin space for taking notes.
Pick out other important ideas in the passage such as recurring words, phrases or themes. If annotating literature, circle metaphors, themes and literary devices such as 'irony' and 'flashback'. Circle the main word or phrase the page in that book discusses. This will help you identify what the main concepts are when skimming the passage for review for a test or exam.
Continue with the remaining assignment pages. You have just learn how to annotate! If you need more guidance or for further reference, check out the resource link at the bottom of this page.