Create tags, assign highlight colors, and mark up sections of texts.
Students can experiment with breaking down a text. Filtering and segmenting the tags helps learners understand how the components of a text fit together.
The highlighter is a great tool for students who are learning text skills, working to understand a text, or for teachers who want to assess students' mastery of these skills.
Example:
Students highlight the dialogue between God and Moshe.
Once the text has been highlighted, filters and segmentation can be used to see the text in a different way.
In our example, if we filter out the narrator and segment the text, the students can clearly see who is doing the majority of the speaking during this encounter.
Instructions for using the Highlighter mode:
1. After you have added your texts to the source sheet and saved the sheet for the first time, select "Toggle Highlight Mode" from the "File" menu. Notice that it will say "Highlight Mode is On" in the top right-hand corner of your screen.
2. Select the text that you would like to highlight. Type the name of the tag in the box. In my example, I have named my first tag "Narrator". Click save. Change the color of the tag by clicking on the box next to "create new".
The selected text will now be highlighted in the desired color.
3. Continue adding tags and highlighting.
Note: When you are selecting text for highlighting, make sure to select only the text and not the blank space after the text.
The highlighting will appear whenever you are in Highlight Mode. If you toggle out of Highlight mode (from the "File" menu), you will see the text without the highlights.
Once your text is highlighted, you have a few more options available to you.
1. Segmenting
Select "Continuous" from the "Highlight Tools" menu and the text will be segmented according to the highlights.
2. Filter
Select "Filter" from the "Highlights Tools" menu. You will be given the option to filter the text according to highlights. In the example above, I would like to display the text without the sections that I have tagged "Narrator".
When I unclick "Narrator", the text appears without the Narrator sections.
The segment and filter features can be used together.
Below is a picture of the text when the Narrator is filtered out and and the text is segmented.
Using Highlight and Assignments Together
1. Create and save a source sheet.
2. Select "Toggle Highlight Mode" from the "File" menu and create tags.
3. Assign the sheet. ("Assignments" in "File" menu.)
4. The student opens the assignment and saves the sheet by clicking "Save" in the top-right corner. The highlight tools only appear once the sheet has been saved.
5. Once the sheet has been saved, enter the highlight mode from the "File" menu.
Click here for more detailed directions for using "Assignments".