Summary Strategy (Adapted from: Brown & Day, 1983; Cordero-Ponce, 2000; Klinger, 2011)

Strategy Steps  Place all gists on one page  Deletion  Delete unnecessary words  Delete redundant words  Substitution/Collapsing  Substitute superordinate terms for categories/lists  Combine two gists that say the same thing  Topic Sentence  Select one from the gists  If one does not exist create one  Synthesize remaining gists into a paragraph (Adapted from: Brown & Day, 1983; Cordero-Ponce, 2000; Klinger, 2011)

Deletion  Summaries are a synthesis of the most important points in the text  Delete trivial information – the summary is about generalizing, not details  Delete unnecessary words (this may include conjunctions, prepositions, personal pronouns, and articles).  Summaries are meant to be short  Delete redundant information (e.g. “Two of your gists mention the purpose of the scientific method, this point should only be included once in the summary.”). (Adapted from: Brown & Day, 1983; Cordero-Ponce, 2000; Klinger, 2011)

Substitution/Collapsing  Substitute superordinate terms for lists  Trees for pines, oaks, and maples  Housework for vacuuming, dusting, and laundry (Adapted from: Brown & Day, 1983; Cordero-Ponce, 2000; Klinger, 2011)

Topic Sentences  Topic sentences should summarize the entire paragraph and contain essential information  Review the gists to determine if one fits as a topic sentence  If none of the gists fit, then create your own topic sentence (Adapted from: Brown & Day, 1983; Cordero-Ponce, 2000; Klinger, 2011)

Synthesizing  Place remaining gists below the topic sentence in order  Read the summary  Again, look for gists that could be combined  Does it need a closing statement? (Adapted from: Brown & Day, 1983; Cordero-Ponce, 2000; Klinger, 2011)

Polish the Summary  Read the summary again  Does it make sense?  Did I leave out any important information?  Is everything in the summary essential?  Does it need connecting/transition words (e.g. and or because)?  Upon completion of previous steps  Reread the summary again  Does it sound natural? (Adapted from: Brown & Day, 1983; Cordero-Ponce, 2000; Klinger, 2011)

References  Brown, A. L. & Day, J. D. (1983). Macrorules for summarizing texts: The developmental expertise. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 22,  Cordero-Ponce, W. L. (2000). Summarization instruction: Effects on foreign language comprehension and summarization of expository texts, Literacy Research and Instruction, 39,  Klingner, J. K., Morrison, A., & Eppolito, A. (2011). Metacognition to improve reading comprehension. In O’Connor, R. E. & Vadasy, P. F. (Ed.), Handbook of Reading Interventions ( pp ).New York, NY: Guilford Press (Adapted from: Brown & Day, 1983; Cordero-Ponce, 2000; Klinger, 2011)