I’ve used sticky note annotations before with students. Using notes to mark questions, add thoughts, and draw conclusions helps students focus as they read. And it stops them from simply highlighting the entire book! Last year, we were able to move that process to Diigo for those pieces of text I found online.
Next year’s eighth-graders won’t have their own laptops, so I am moving back to the sticky note mode (not for all reading, just for class books we will discuss together.) English teacher and author Jim Burke has some great examples and descriptions of how his students do this in :Tools for Thought. I’m finding lots of other great graphic organizers in his book to help my students next year. Check it out!