Issue #18 - July 15, 2025.

Hi there, .

Sometimes, reading isn’t just about comprehension—it’s about retention, connection, and embodiment. 

Book“marking” borrows a brilliant technique from dance called marking—a strategy dancers use to walk through the dance without actually going through a full-blown performance. 

Here, students use physical movement to “mark” key ideas in a complex text, helping them remember and internalize information in a whole new way.

This Week's Strategy: Book "Marking"

• STEP 1: Provide students with a large piece of complex text, such as “Paul Revere’s Ride” or a multi-step math word problem. 
  
  
• STEP 2: Have students select pieces of the text that they would like to bookmark as a key detail they would like to remember. They may bookmark as many places as they would like. 
  
  
• STEP 3: For each bookmarked area, students should select a movement that they could perform that represents that key detail.  
  
  
• STEP 4: Have students practice performing the full movement they chose for their bookmark. 
  
  
• STEP 5: Then, students should minimize that movement so that they restrain the range of motion. For instance, if they chose a turning motion to represent a rotation, instead of turning all the way around, they could stand in place and simply rotate their head. They should be able to perform their “marked” motion while seated at their desk. 
  
  
• STEP 6: Repeat step 5 for each area they have bookmarked. 

Why This Works:

• Builds memory and comprehension through physical cues

• Connects text to embodiment, much like dancers or actors do

• Strengthens focus, retention, and student engagement

• Perfect for warm-ups, review, or pre-assessment

Ways to Make Connections:

You can use this strategy to enhance:

• ELA – Use with poetry, speeches, or dense narrative passages.

• Social Studies – Mark up historical documents or significant event timelines.

• Science – Apply it to procedural texts or diagrams (e.g., the digestive process).

• Math – Bookmark and “move through” each step of a multi-part word problem.

• Visual Arts – Represent steps in an artistic process or symbolic themes.
  

• Music – Mark shifts in tempo, theme, or emotion in a musical piece.

Happy creating and connecting,

Susan