Summarizing
The ability to summarize what has been read is a powerful tool. A tool that demonstrates that an understanding of what was read has been reached. Summarizing teaches students how to discern the most important ideas in a text, how to ignore irrelevant information, and how to integrate the central ideas in a meaningful way (readingrockets.org. 2015). By learning how to pick out what is important and weeding out irrelevant material, students can spend more energy on comprehending the text. Beyond aiding with comprehension, summarizing as been classified as one of the 11 elements of writing instruction effective in helping adolescents develop writing proficiency (Graham & Perin, 2007).
Students in my Health classes normally do not like summarizing. It challenges them to think and dig deep into the text. The same reason the students do not like it, some teachers shy away from teaching it. Summarizing is a very challenging concept to teach. You have to model this continually and students need a lot of time to practice this method in order to achieve the proper benefits. It is not a quick learn and, therefore, it makes the teacher think and dig deep in order to get the students proficient at summarizing.
Students in my Health classes normally do not like summarizing. It challenges them to think and dig deep into the text. The same reason the students do not like it, some teachers shy away from teaching it. Summarizing is a very challenging concept to teach. You have to model this continually and students need a lot of time to practice this method in order to achieve the proper benefits. It is not a quick learn and, therefore, it makes the teacher think and dig deep in order to get the students proficient at summarizing.
Bellwork/Exit Slips
I use the strategies of Bellwork and Exit Slips as my avenue for teaching summarizing. These strategies are very similar, except the fact that one is at the beginning of the period and one is as they are leaving. Bellwork is work done within the first two minutes of the bell. I usually have the class summarize the previous days lesson. Exit Slips are done the last two minutes of class. Students need to summarize what was covered that day. By giving them only two minutes to complete the task, it forces them to be selective as to what they want to write. Exit Slips easily incorporate writing into the content area classroom and require students to think critically (Albers, 2006). These strategies provide many functions. It allows the students to practice summarizing, allows me to check for understanding and aids in motivating students to concentrate on the readings because they know they will be questioned either on the way out the door or at the beginning of the next day. |
Sum It Up
Sum it up is a strategy is an interesting method of teaching students to summarize. Jones (2012), through conversations with Pat Widdowson of Surry County Schools in North Carolina, explained Sum It Up this way: You have students imagine they are placing a classified ad or sending a telegram, where every word used costs them money. Tell them each word costs 10 cents, and then tell them they can spend "so much." For instance, if you say they have $2.00 to spend, then that means they have to write a summary that has no more than 20 words. You can adjust the amount they have to spend, and therefore the length of the summary, according to the text they are summarizing. Consider setting this up as a learning station, with articles in a folder that they can practice on whenever they finish their work early or have time when other students are still working. What a wonderful way of teaching summarizing! A way of modifying this strategy would be to incorporate Twitter into the classroom. Students have to explain what they read in a tweet (140 characters or less).
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Sources
Summarizing. (2015). Retrieved on July 15, 2015 from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/summarizing
Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools,
A report to the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Washington D. C: Alliance for Excellent Education.
Albers, Peggy. "Imagining the Possibilities in Multimodal Curriculum Design." English Education 2nd ser. 38.N (2006): 75-101. Web.
Jones, R. (2012). Summarizing. Retrieved on July 15, 2015 from http://www.readingquest.org/strat/summarize.html.
Summarizing. (2015). Retrieved on July 15, 2015 from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/summarizing
Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools,
A report to the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Washington D. C: Alliance for Excellent Education.
Albers, Peggy. "Imagining the Possibilities in Multimodal Curriculum Design." English Education 2nd ser. 38.N (2006): 75-101. Web.
Jones, R. (2012). Summarizing. Retrieved on July 15, 2015 from http://www.readingquest.org/strat/summarize.html.