In Your Own Words… PARAPHRASING

By the End, You will Know… How to put a passage in your own words without changing the meaning to make it clearer and, usually, shorter.

What is Paraphrasing? PARAPHRASING IS… A rewriting of text in your own words. It is used to clarify meaning. A paraphrase is usually shorter than the original, but not always. You may want to highlight the words, re-writing, clarify and shorten and keeps. These seem like keys words in the definition.

So How Do You Do It? Read the passage carefully Decide the main idea and the main supporting detail of the passage Highlight or underline important words or phrases Put the main points in your own words Put me in your own words. Great graphic! Again, I would use highlights.

Example ONE Passage from Book Ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris, a good and wise king, was the first pharaoh. He traveled to spread knowledge to other parts of the world, while his wife, Isis, ruled Egypt in his place.

Good Example 1 PARAPHRASED PASSAGE ORIGINAL PASSAGE Ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris, a good and wise king, was the first pharaoh. He spread knowledge to many other parts of the world, while his wife, Isis, ruled Egypt in his place. PARAPHRASED PASSAGE Egypt’s King Osiris, the first pharaoh, spread knowledge world-wide while Queen Isis ruled.

Poor Example 1 Highlighted Passage Poor Paraphrasing Ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris, a good and wise king, was the first pharaoh. He spread knowledge to other parts of the world, while his wife, Isis, ruled Egypt in his place. Poor Paraphrasing King Osiris was an ancient Egyptian King and the first pharaoh. He was good and wise because he spread knowledge to other parts of the world. His wife Isis ruled Egypt in his place.

Example 2 Passage from Book Upon returning home, Osiris was murdered by his evil brother Set, who cut Osiris’s body into pieces and dumped it in the Nile River. Isis found the body and put it back together by winding linen bandages around it. Check the comma and the capital S after it. IS that correct? Osiris and Set

Good Example 2 Original Passage Paraphrased Passage Upon returning home, Osiris was murdered by his evil brother, Set who cut his body into pieces and dumped it in the Nile River. Isis found the body and put it back together by winding linen bandages around it. Paraphrased Passage Osiris’s brother Set killed Osiris by cutting his body into pieces, and Isis put the body back together. I like the noise that you added here for the paraphrased passage. Could you do that for the others? Isis, Osiris’s wife

Poor Example 2 Highlighted Passage Poor Paraphrasing Upon returning home, Osiris was murdered by his evil brother, Set who cut his body into pieces and dumped it in the Nile River. Isis found the body and put it back together by winding linen bandages around it. Poor Paraphrasing Osiris was murdered and Isis found the body

Your Turn Remember the Rules Passage from Book Read the passage carefully Find the main ideas Highlight important words or phrases Put the main points in your own words Keep the original meaning and emphasis. Passage from Book In 1857, a British expedition led by Richard Burton and John Speke set out to find the great lakes shown on Ptolemy’s map. After reaching Lake Tanganyika, the two men split up because Burton was ill.

Remember to highlight the right words Now You Try Remember to highlight the right words In 1857, a British expedition led by Richard Burton and John Speke set out to find the great lakes shown on Ptolemy’s map. After reaching Lake Tanganyika, the two men split up because Burton was ill. Which one is the best? Richard Burton and his friend looked for the great lakes shown on Ptolemy’s map. The men split up. In 1857, Richard Burton and John Speke searched for the great lakes on Ptolemy’s map, but they had to split up when Burton was ill. Two men from Britain looked for the great lakes but had to split up because one was too ill to continue. (hint: blue) I think that some commas are needed in the paragraph. The use of color for the best is an effective strategy. But the heading could read - the purple one is best. So the reader does not have to guess. Also in these two practice slides the sentences are quite long, I am wondering if shorter sentences would be helpful to the students. Also, when you create the lesson plans, I think it would be good if students had copies of the text so that they could practice the highlighting. We’ll do this on Tuesday when we return.

MORE Paraphrasing PRactice Passage When boys have trouble with a math problem, they are more likely to think that a problem is hard but stay with it. When girls have trouble, they think they are stupid and tend to give up. Which Paraphrase? Boys don’t find math difficult, but girls do. Unlike boys, girls don’t do well at math problems. When math problems are difficult, boys tend to work them out, while girls tend to stop trying, believing they are dumb.

…more practice Which Paraphrase? Original Passage Girls can be helped to overcome fear of math if they are allowed to take their time; they need to relax and understand that making errors helps them learn. Girls tend to be anxious when they do math problems and need to relax. With permission to make errors and to take their time, girls can learn relaxation techniques to deal with the math anxiety so many experience. Original Passage Girls need to be encouraged to persevere in the face of difficulty, to calm down and believe in themselves. They need permission to take their time and to make many mistakes before solving the problem. They need to learn relaxation skills to deal with the math anxiety so many experience.

Remember the process Read the passage carefully Decide the main idea and the main supporting detail of the passage Highlight or underline important words or phrases Put the main points in your own words Fun.