Summarizing Passages: An Overlapping and Essential Literacy Skill Vicki Estrem, Minneapolis AE Stacy Hannigan, Metro North ABE Marn Frank, ATLAS

Session Objectives 1.Briefly report on the evidence base for teaching summarizing 2.Model and guide a systematic and explicit strategy 3.Provide participant application of the strategy 4.Share summarizing experiences, extensions, and materials

JUST WRITE! GUIDE Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (2012) “ The activity of writing a summary exemplifies the reading- writing synergy. Writing a summary of a text not only helps learners comprehend what they read by focusing on and connecting the important ideas, it also helps them process those thoughts by rephrasing them in their own words” (page 44). “Summarization skills are critical to student success in postsecondary education. Writing summaries of information is an important part of producing college papers” (page 44).

Developing READING and WRITING National Research Council (2012) “Develop an integrated system of skills using approaches that capitalize on the relationships between reading and writing. [They] depend on similar knowledge and cognitive processes, so insights in one area can lead to insights in the other” (page 15). Key teaching practice #2: “Teach learners to summarize in writing the passages they have read” (page 16).

Summary of the Skills and Content Needed to Prepare for the 2014 GED© Test Minnesota Department of Education (2013) “In alignment with career and college readiness standards, the Reasoning through Language Arts assessment focuses on the skills of reading closely, writing clearly, and editing and understanding standard written English in context” (page 8).

Reading Assessment Target #1: Determine central ideas or themes of texts and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas” (page 9). Writing Assessment Target #3: “Write clearly and demonstrate sufficient command of Standard English conventions” (page 9).

Teach Summarizing Systematically: One sub-skill at a time! 1.Find topics: What is each paragraph mostly about? What words (or “relatives”) are repeated or important? 2.Identify main idea sentences: What is the most important point of each paragraph? Is it explicit (clearly stated)? Or is it implicit (not clearly stated)? 3.Write a summary: How do I combine my main idea sentences into a summary? What transition words do I add? What revisions do I make?

Teach Summarizing Explicitly: One step at a time! 1.Explanation: teacher briefly explains the skill to be taught and learned, the purpose of the skill, and the process of instruction 2.Modeling: teacher proficiently models the skill, talks aloud his/her use of the steps, and demonstrates “how to do it right” 3.Guided practice: students practice using the new skill; teacher guides, supports, and corrects 4.Application: students use the new skill or process independently; teacher monitors progress

Explanation of Summarizing Purpose: It integrates reading and writing skills, which are highly related. Reading helps to improve writing; writing helps to improve reading. It is a key skill for the GED 2014 Reading through Language Arts and Writing tests. It is a critical skill for college writing and post- secondary success.

Explanation of Summarizing Process: I will model using a step-by-step, READ-WRITE-READ strategy: 1.find topic words from paragraphs 2.identify main idea sentences from paragraphs 3.combine main ideas sentences into a summary and revise as needed We will practice each step together. You will apply each step on your own.

Model Finding Topics See No Moisture Here! (pages 2-3) 1.Teacher reads the entire passage aloud 2.Teacher re-reads each paragraph aloud 3.Teacher talks aloud how to find topics: what words are repeated, related, or important ? 4.Teacher models writing topic words in a graphic organizer

Guide/Apply Finding Topics See No Moisture Here! (pages 2-3) 1.If using new text, ask/assign students to read the entire passage 2.Ask/assign students to re-read each paragraph aloud 3.Ask/assign students to find topics: what words are repeated, related, or important ? 4.Have students write topic words in a graphic organizer

Model Identifying Main Idea Sentences See No Moisture Here! (pages 2-3) 1.If needed, teacher re-reads the entire passage aloud 2.Teacher re-reads each paragraph aloud 3.Teacher talks aloud how to identify main idea sentences: What is the paragraph mostly about ? What is most important ? 4.Teacher models writing main idea sentences in a graphic organizer

Guide/Apply Identifying Main Idea Sentences See No Moisture Here! (pages 2-3) 1.If using new text, ask/assign students to read the entire passage 2.Ask/assign students to re-read each paragraph 2.Ask/assign students to identify each main idea sentence: What is the paragraph mostly about ? What is most important ? 3.Have students write main idea sentences in a graphic organizer

Model Summarizing See No Moisture Here! (pages 3-4) 1.Teacher reads aloud the main idea sentences 2.Teacher talks aloud how to combine them into a summary 3.Teacher talks aloud how to add transition words and make revisions 4.Teacher models a final check of the summary: Is it short? Is it accurate? In my own words?

Guide/Apply Summarizing See No Moisture Here! (pages 3-4) 1.Ask/assign students to read aloud the main idea sentences 2.Ask/assign students to combine them into a summary 3.Ask/assign students to read the summary, add transition words, and make revisions 4.Have students do a final check of the summary: Is it short? Is it accurate? In my own words?

Participant Application See Oldest, Youngest, or in the Middle? (page 5) 1.Work in pairs or trios 2.READ the entire passage silently 3.WRITE the topic of each paragraph 4.WRITE a main idea sentence for each paragraph 5.WRITE the main idea sentences into summary 6.READ, revise, and check your summary 7.Share your summary with the “class” Note: Students will need application step-by-step

Summarizing Recommendations Select non-fiction passages at least one level below students’ TABE or CASAS Reading GLE See page 6 for recommended text materials Also consider students’ writing abilities Choose passage topics that integrate with other classroom learning or activities; extend if appropriate

REFLECTION: How will this work in my ABE classroom?

THANK YOU!