Highlighting is a low tech strategy that can be used electronically to highlight specific words, letters, or parts of speech.

Thinking of your students, would any of them focus better if they were interacting with text instead of passively reading? Do any have difficulty in taking notes?

Research says that

• Adding color to text increases the odds that the information will be stored in long-term memory and be more readily recalled. (Summary)
  
• Emerging readers may skip over words they don't understand. Highlighting such words cues them to go back later. (Summary)
  

• Highlight new vocabulary or words they do not know.
  
• Highlight important names, dates, places.
• Use different colors (red for names, green for places)

• Highlight key points and corresponding details to emphasize meaning.

• Allow students to demonstrate thier understanding by highlighting key information.

• Students can demonstrate mastery or practice a new skill by using electronic highlighting in Word with electronic text passages.
• Highlight the adverbs.
• Highlight the words that have a "schwa" sound
• Highlight the silent "e" in each word.
• One teacher asks students to highlight the directions of any written assignment to ensure that students have at least "looked at the directions."

In Word you need to select text to be highlighted, then select the highlighter in the formatting palette, or from the toolbar. (To show Toolbars, go to View in the top menu, select "Toolbars" and then "Formatting." The Highlight button is one choice on the Formatting Toolbar.)

In any word processor, select text and change the font color. If that is not an option, students can bold, italicize, or underline.

Some students will benefit from cutting and pasting the highlighted material for further organization or expansion.

• Can you think of a student who could benefit from highlighting words they don't understand?
• Can you think of another student who could work with them, who could model good choices?

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