Summarizing

NEBRASKA CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MITZI HOBACK ESU 4, AUBURN, NE

MARCH 2, 2012

Summarizing

Learning Targets

Understand the purpose and importance of summarizing.

Identify ways to implement summarizing in the classroom.

Review examples of summarizing activities.

http://esu4instructionalstrategies.wikispaces.com

Learning Goals and FeedbackRules and Procedures

INVOLVES ROUTINES

ENACTED ON THE SPOT

Student Engagement

High Expectations

Te

ache

r/St

uden

t Rel

ation

ship

sAdherence to Rules and Procedures

Generating/ Testing Hypotheses

Practicing and Deepening

Interacting With New Knowledge

The Art and Science of Teaching

ADDRESSES CONTENT IN SPECIFIC WAYS

What usually happens when

you ask students to summarize?

Why do we ask students to summarize?

Summarizing

What does the research say?

CategoryAve. Effect

SizePercentile

gain

Identifying similarities and differences 1.61 45

Summarizing and note taking 1.00 34

Reinforcing effort and providing recognition .80 29

Homework and practice .77 28

Nonlinguistic representations .75 27

Cooperative learning .73 27

Setting objectives/providing feedback .61 23

Generating and testing hypotheses .61 23

Questions, cues, and advance organizers .59 22

Don’t assume your students know how to summarize!

Kids Aren’t Born Knowing How To Summarize…

Teach your students how to summarize.

Many teachers say: “Summarize what we’ve learned today.” But they don’t do direct instruction (that means teaching) on summarizing.

So, if they can’t do it, teach them!

A summary is …

1) A summary is a comprehensive but brief statement of what has been stated previously in a longer form.

2) A summary is a wrap-up----a general picture of the information--- much like TV networks produce at the end of a year.

3) Summaries provide a quick overview of a subject without having the reader wade through a lot of facts and details. Summaries help readers and writers boil information down to its most basic elements.

4) Encyclopedias, almanacs, and digests provide good examples of summaries.

ACTIVATE STUDENTS’ PERSONAL

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE BEFORE

ASKING THEM TO SUMMARIZE.

Each student’s background knowledge will influence the

summary he/she creates.

Research and Theory aboutSummarizing

Generalization #1:

Students must delete, substitute, and keep some information when summarizing.

• Condensing information• Looking for patterns• Distilling (extracting) and

synthesizing information• Modeling by teachers

Research and Theory aboutSummarizing

Generalization #2:

To effectively delete, substitute, and keep information, students must analyze the information at a fairly deep level.

• Seems simple but requires analyzing content

• Students need practice to be good at analyzing information

Summarizing is Procedural

Summarizing is “procedural knowledge”. If students are expected to become proficient in procedural knowledge, they need to be able to“practice.”Mastering a skill or process requires a fair amount of focused practice. Practice sessions initially should be spaced very closely together. Over time, the intervals between sessions can be increased. Students also need feedback on their efforts.While practicing, students should adapt and shape what they have learned.

One of the greatest gifts we can give our students…

The ability to identify important information, and

Processes to structure that information for meaning and successful application…

Summarizing!Rick Wormli, Summarization in Any Subject, 2005

The 84 t h annual Academy Awards were on television last Sunday evening. Hosted by Billy Crystal, the event featured some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, both as presenters and winners. Awards were given in many categories, honoring the nominees and winners for the 2011 movie season.

Start with something you know…

Start with something you know…

Recall something you recently watched on television, attended, or read about. Examples: a basketball game, wrestling meet, or other

sporting event; a movie; a party; etc.Take a moment to think about how you would

summarize this if you were to tell someone about it in 3-5 sentences.

Share your summary with your elbow partner.

What went through your mind as you planned your summary?

Rule-Based Summarizing

Steps in Rule-Based Summarizing

1. Take out material that is not important to your understanding.

2. Take out words that repeat information

3. Replace a list of things with a word that describes the things in the list (e.g., use trees for elm, oak, and maple).

4. Find a topic sentence. If you cannot find a topic sentence, make one up.

Traditional Rules-Based Summaries

T - Trivia (Remove trivial material.)R - Redundancies (Remove redundant or repetitive information.)G - Generalize (Replace specifics or lists with general terms and phrases.)TS - Topic Sentence ( Determine the topic sentence, which is the subject plus the author’s claim about the subject. You might have to make one up if there isn’t one.)

T - RG - TS (TARGETS)

Good Written Summaries…

Follow the order of the originalMaintain the original toneAre approximately 15-20% of the

length of the original.

Modeling the process…

To enable students to summarize, we must make sure they begin with enough background knowledge. In some situations, this may mean creating a background where there was none. For example, students could have time to play with actual microscopes before they are asked to read and summarize an article about how microscopes work. Then, everything they read in the article moves into long-term memory because it is attached to their earlier experience, giving meaning to text.

WITH YOUR PARTNER, USE THE RULES-BASED STRATEGY TO

WRITE A SUMMARY OF THE PARAGRAPH.

Practice with summarizing

How would you need to scaffold the previous activity for your

students?

Teach Students to Identify a Text’s Underlying Structure

DescriptiveTime SequenceProcess/Cause EffectEpisodeGeneralization/PrincipleConcept

See Graphic Organizers on the Instructional Strategies Wiki under Nonlinguistic Representations

Traditional Rules-Based Summaries

•Use regularly, but don’t exclude alternative formats•Provide models for students•Provide opportunities for practice•Do think-alouds to model the process

Tips from the Experts

HOW DO YOU HAVE STUDENTS SUMMARIZE?

One-Sentence Summary

1.  Read a selection of text. 2.  After reading the selection, put it aside and list four to five key ideas or words from the reading.3.  Combine the ideas/words into a one-sentence summary.4.  Reread the summary and delete any unnecessary words.5.  Ask students to reflect on how putting the reading aside and writing key ideas/words helped them transfer the information into a one-sentence summary.

Let’s Practice a One Sentence Summary

Important Words

ValuesResponsibilityCharacterRespectAdmire

When character is built upon values and responsibility, a person will be respected and admired.

Summary Cubes

http://bit.ly/xijYFxReadwritethink.org

Alternative Summarizing Strategies

BUT THEY CAN ALSO BE:• Oral• Dramatic• Artistic• Visual• Physical • musical

Summaries can be written…

Share One; Get One

Divide paper into a grid of 6 squares.Record 3 different important points or

things to remember that have been discussed thus far.

Find 3 different people to add something new to your grid, as you add to theirs.

Return to your seat when your grid is full.

Primacy-Recency Effect

During a learning episode we remember best that which comes first, second best that which comes last and least that which comes just past the middle.

Primacy-Recencyfrom How the Brain Learns by David Sousa

Summarizing with the Final Countdown

Ask students to reflect on what they have learned about the topic.

Use the Final Countdown strategy.First Tier - Write the three most

important facts that the student learned.Second Tier - Write two questions that

the student still has about the topic.Top Tier - Write one way in which the

student can connect the topic to material previously learned.

from Instructional Strategies for Engaging LearnersGuilford County Schools TF, 2002

Changing STATES

Change up instruction 5-10 min. for pre-adolescents, and

Every 10-20 minutes for adolescents into adults.

Thinking About It

Why would you want to change states when you finally have students quiet, sitting in their seats, and looking like they are listening to you?

Because the brain needs a chance to refocus and start again.

When you stand up blood flow to the brain increases.

The Importance of Processing Time

The brain needs time to create connections and pathways to create long term memories.

The hippocampus can only hold so much Too much, too fast, it won’t last.10-2 or 5-1 rule

Synapses or Brain BreaksJudith Willis

Change activates and turns on different parts of the brain.

Dopamine is a pleasure neurotransmitter that makes you feel good and is released during certain activities and depletes over time.

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, needs an opportunity to recharge and rebuild.

Brain breaks (synapses) help to replenish.

Technology Sites

http://www.readingquest.org/strat/http://classroom.leanderisd.org/webs/marzan

o/home.htm

Enchanted Learning http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorgan

izers/storymap/

Reading Rockets http://www.readingrockets.org/

Podcasting with Quick Time PlayerDabble Board http://www.dabbleboard.com/

Wordle

www.wordle.neto This is a free tool that turns words or a

block of text into a cloud pattern.o Great way to summarizeo Great for a pre-reading toolo Great for reflecting on content

Tagxedo

www.tagxedo.comVariation on wordleShapes

R.E.A.P.

READ the text, jot down details about the selection. Ex. Title/Author/ Page #’s/Chapter/etc…

ENCODE the text by putting main ideas in your own words/language.

ANNOTATE the text by writing a statement that summarizes the important points.

PONDER the text by thinking and talking about what you learned. Ask questions…

Sum It Up

Sum It Up Directions

Get a “Sum It Up” sheet.Read the entire selection (chapter, article,

handout, primary source, etc.) and as you read list the main idea words on the “Sum It Up” sheet.

Write a summary of the selection using as many of the main idea words as possible. Put one word in each blank. Imagine you have only $2.00 and that each word you use is worth ten cents.

You’ll “sum it up” in 20 words!

Gist LogWho or what is the paragraph mostly about?

What is the most important information about the who or what?

Write the gist in a complete sentence of 10 words or less.

Say Something

Form pairs of studentsAsk students to read silently to a

designated stopping point. When each partner is ready, stop and

“say something”.Continue this process until the

selection is read.

Tips from the Experts

WHAT ALTERNATIVE SUMMARIZING ACTIVITIES

DO YOU USE WITH YOUR STUDENTS?

Which alternative summarizing strategies will you incorporate in

your classroom?

Self-Reflection

Write a Headline

With your elbow partner, write a headline that best summarizes our work today.

Be ready to read it aloud, quickly, in popcorn style.