When students struggle to read purposefully, they, not surprisingly, have little to contribute in class. Discussions are slow, and papers lack analytical details. This is because such students assume a passive role when studying, surrendering to the text rather than controlling it. As indicated by research into strategic learning, such students lack the know-how for interacting with text or for entering into conversations about the text. They need assistance in developing the appropriate interpretive "skills" but also the "dispositions" of relating to academic texts and, more broadly, to an academic community. Making use of the reading, writing, and talking connection, this classroom activity uses annotation to channel specific strategies that facilitate higher-order thinking and generate academic conversations with the text, about the text, and among students. (Contains 1 figure and 1 note.)