What is text coding?

What is text coding?

• A. An active reading strategy using margin notes or post-its
• B. A way to encode data for computers
• C. The structure of a paragraph
• D. A type of summary

Answer: (A)

Text coding is an active reading practice where you annotate the text with short codes or symbols in the margins or on sticky notes to mark important ideas, evidence, patterns, questions, and inferences. By labeling parts of the text—such as marking themes, key details, or moments that raise questions—you create a map of how the text develops its meaning. This helps you engage more deeply, track connections across the passage, and gather material to support discussion or writing. It’s not about encoding data for computers, describing paragraph structure, or summarizing the text; instead, it’s about tagging the text to think and talk about it more effectively.

Text coding is an active reading practice where you annotate the text with short codes or symbols in the margins or on sticky notes to mark important ideas, evidence, patterns, questions, and inferences. By labeling parts of the text—such as marking themes, key details, or moments that raise questions—you create a map of how the text develops its meaning. This helps you engage more deeply, track connections across the passage, and gather material to support discussion or writing. It’s not about encoding data for computers, describing paragraph structure, or summarizing the text; instead, it’s about tagging the text to think and talk about it more effectively.