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Selective Underlining

By Debbie Jones

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You will learn to:

  • Decide what it is you want to find out.

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  • How to choose the KEY WORDS and PHRASES to underline or highlight in the text.

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Non-fiction Texts

  • We are studying non-fiction texts.
  • These types of texts are factual.
  • They will contain a lot of new vocabulary related to the subject.

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What should you underline?

  • You should start by underlining the KEY VOCABULARY.
  • This means you underline the important words which relate to the topic.
  • In a different colour, you should then underline words and phrases which help to explain what these important words mean.

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Let’s have a go!

  • The following text comes from the “Roman Britain Resource Book” and is discussing the Roman Army.

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The Romans Invade Britain

The men who fought in the Roman army were paid to be full-time soldiers. The army was divided up into legions. There were nearly five thousand men in a legion. They were called legionaries.

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Let’s start by underlining the key words.

These are words you haven’t heard before and words you think are important for us to learn.

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The men who fought in the Roman army were paid to be full-time soldiers. The army was divided up into legions. There were nearly five thousand men in a legion. They were called legionaries.

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Choose a new colour.

Underline any information that helps explain your key vocabulary.

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The men who fought in the Roman army were paid to be full-time soldiers. The army was divided up into legions. There were nearly five thousand men in a legion. They were called legionaries.

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How do we connect the information?

  • Paid – to be full-time soldiers
  • Legions – divided up into these groups
  • Legions – a group of five thousand men
  • Legionaries – what they called the men

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What have we just done?

We have summarised the main points by simply underlining a few important words.

The underlined words will help us to learn and remember the important facts.

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Now it’s your turn!

  • Choose two different coloured pencils.
  • Read through your non-fiction text.
  • With your first colour, underline any new words or words you think are important.
  • With your second colour, underline any words or phrases which help to explain what your underlined words mean.
  • Read your underlined words.
  • Do they help you to remember the important information?

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Remember!

  • Never underline in a real book!
  • If your text isn't a copy, then use a piece of plastic paper to lay on top of the text before you start your underlining!