Flag Your Strategy! (by Barjeanne Gaston)

Color code your notes using this method!

CONNECT: Flag where an example relates to something in your everyday life.
QUESTION: Highlight where you have a question about something.
INFER/PREDICT: Flag where you are able to make an inference or a prediction.
MONITOR: Highlight where you had to stop to figure out a phrase or statement, or reread a passage.
EVALUATE: Flag where you have formed an opinion or come up with an alternative understanding of the concept.

The "4 Cs"

(1) CONNECTIONS

What connections do you draw between the text and your own life or other learning?
Making connections between text and your own experience personalizes the content while broadening it, as each new connection adds dimension to the text

(2) CHALLENGE

What ideas or assumptions do you want to challenge or argue with in the text?
Identifying challenges invites critical thinking and conveys the idea that  one should raise questions of truth and veracity as one reads non fiction texts.

(3) CONCEPTS

What key concepts or ideas do you think are important and worth holding onto from the text?
Recognizing key concepts requires learners to compare and prioritize ideas to uncover themes and messages

(4) CHANGES

What changes in attitude, thinking or action are suggested by the text either for you or for others?
The idea of identifying possible changes to ones behavior or approach asks you to think beyond the information to consider its import and how it might be used. This calls for both analytical thinking and synthesis

R.E.L.A.X.