Bookmark Technique

Strategy Corner

As literacy professionals, we are all seeking greater conceptual and practical understanding of comprehension and how it can be integrated into our teaching.

The purpose of the Bookmark Technique is to monitor comprehension while reading and to make evaluative judgments about aspects of text. Monitoring, Knowing How Words Work, Making Connections and Evaluating would be some comprehension strategies included in this activity using Narrative or Expository text. Use this activity during and after reading.

Begin by explaining and modeling the Bookmark Procedure. Have students create four bookmarks by folding and cutting 8.5 x 11 inch sheets of paper into four equal parts. (These can be prepared in advance.) As students read, have them make decisions and record specific information on each bookmark, including the page and paragraph where their choice is located.

  • Bookmark 1 — write and/or sketch about the part of the text that they found most interesting.
  • Bookmark 2 — write and/or sketch something they found confusing.
  • Bookmark 3 — write a word they think the whole class needs to discuss.
  • Bookmark 4 — student choice (Note a favorite illustration, graph, another focus word, etc.)

Use the completed bookmarks to promote discussion about the text.

By Sandy Bahler, Adjunct Professor, Buena Vista University, Past President, Iowa Reading Association, PACK Reading Council
Iowa Reading Association Newsletter, March 2005
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