Summarizing in the Elementary Grades Suzanne Whisler ESU 4 March 2, 2012

Learning Targets Understand the purpose and importance of summarizing. Identify ways to implement summarizing in the classroom. Review examples of summarizing activities.

Category Summarizing and note taking 1.00 34 Ave. Effect Size Percentile 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 Setting objectives/providing feedback .61 23 Generating and testing hypotheses Questions, cues, and advance organizers .59 22

WHY do we ask kids to summarize?

How do you currently teach your students to summarize information?

Students & Summarizing When you ask your students to summarize, what usually happens? What do you want them to do? Pull out the main idea Focus on key details Use key words and phrases Get the “gist”

The time to begin teaching students how to summarize is on the first day of kindergarten. ~Elaine K. McEwan

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

Kids Aren’t Born Knowing How To Summarize… We have to teach our students to summarize. Many teachers say: “Summarize what we’ve learned today.” But they don’t do direct instruction (that means teaching) on summarizing. Use direct, explicit instruction to teach summarizing.

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.

Gradual Release of Responsibility

Think Alouds Name a strategy, a skill, or a task. State the purpose of the strategy, the skill, or the task. Use “I” statements. Demonstrate how the strategy, the skill, or the task is used. Alert learners about errors to avoid. Assess the usefulness of the strategy or the skill.

Summarizing Think Aloud So what it’s saying is . . . The big idea here is . . . I think the point is . . .

Modeling is key!

10-2 Strategy For every ten minutes of new learning provide students two minutes to process the new learning. Time to process is essential to transfer learning to long term memory. Take 2 minutes and reflect on summarizing, gradual release of responsibility, and think alouds.

Summarizing Strategies

Fiction Strategies

Narrative Framework Elements commonly found in fiction Use the framework to help students summarize stories. Introduce the framework questions to students. Ask students to think about the questions as you read the story aloud. Read the story again stopping to let the students answer the questions. Finally, use the answers to the questions to write a summary.

Marzano, 2001

Visualize a Video Explain to students that as you read a story to them, you want them to make pictures in their minds, about 4 very important things that they will hear during the read aloud. Main character – which person or animal is most described in the story Setting – looking at the pictures and noticing what is in the background Problem/Solution – takes more thinking and you have to look and listen for clues in the story

Visualize a Video

Setting Characters Title Problem Solution

Story Maps Have Fun Teaching Read Write Think Story Cube http://bit.ly/xijYFx Scholastic Interactive Story Train http://bit.ly/ybVvC4 Education Place http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/ Enchanted Learning http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/story map/ Have Fun Teaching http://bit.ly/ylSWTp

What about DIBELS Retell? In addition to having students summarize a story, provide them with opportunities to retell everything they can remember about a story. Elbow Partners Tell your neighbor everything you can about the story we just read.

Take Seven Steps What have you heard so far that makes sense? What strategy are you going to try with your students? What are you still wondering about?

More Strategies

Model for Summarizing Steps in Rule-Based Summarizing for Younger Students Take out material that is not important to understanding. Take out words that repeat information. Replace a list of things with a word that describes the things in the list (e.g. use trees for elm, oak and maple.) Find a topic sentence. If you cannot find a topic sentence, make one up. Here is a set of instructions for older students and a different set of directions you can give younger students.

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)

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

Practice with Summarizing With your elbow partner, review the rules-based summary directions. (TARGETS) Apply the strategy to the “Penguin” paragraph and write a summary. Practice doing it as a “Think Aloud” with your elbow partners. Google Docs & Word Documents

Paragraph Shrinking A strategy designed to develop comprehension through main idea identification. Steps: Name the who or what. (The main person, animal or thing) Tell the most important thing about the who or what. Say the main idea in 10 words or less. (Fuchs, Mathes, and Fuchs) Today, then, we will focus on a strategy that builds in instruction in both text structure as well as summarization skills. We do this by teaching the main idea.

Paragraph Shrinking Card Question Card Paragraph Shrinking Card Questions to Ask Name the Who or What Tell the most important thing about the who or what. Say the main idea in 10 words or less. privilege.

One Word Summaries ABCYa http://bit.ly/w2XqdQ Ask students to write one word that summarizes the lesson’s topic. Ask them to explain why they chose that word. I Have a Dream ABCYa http://bit.ly/w2XqdQ Wordle http://www.wordle.net/ Tagxedo http://www.tagxedo.com/

One Sentence Paraphrase Requires students to synthesize information Puts focus on bigger picture learning rather than specific details Steps in the process Model the process After reading, put away or hide passage Students write one sentence that reflects their understanding Share sentences, looking for similarities & differences

Inner/Outer Circle Form two circles with equal numbers of people, one inside the other Inside faces outside, speaking distance apart Pose a summarizing question, allow time for discussion, one minute for each Rotate the outer or inner circle to change pairings, pose additional summarizing questions

Partners A and B In pairs: One person A, other person B A- talk non-stop about what we’ve read about so far today for one minute B- talk non-stop for one minute (B can’t repeat anything)

Carousel Brainstorming Place topics on chart paper around the room Divide students into small groups Each group has a different color marker and goes to a different chart Students write ideas/facts about the concept on the chart Call time and rotate to next chart Each time students arrive at new chart, they review what is already there and add to the list

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 Learners Guilford County Schools TF, 2002

Summarizing with 3 - 2 - 1 Use the 3-2-1 strategy to summarize a topic. Write 3 things you found out Write 2 interesting things you learned Write 1 question you still have www.readingquest.org Penny Juggins of Fairfax County, VA

Charades Divide the class into 2 teams. Then have the students within each team form a small group of three or four. Hand out slips of paper naming concepts, facts, people or skills you’ve been teaching. Ask small groups to discuss what they know about the topics and determine how to act out the words. When everyone is ready, reassemble the two teams and have the small groups present their pantomimes to the other small group on their team.

The Frayer Model Topic Essential Characteristics Nonessential Characteristics Topic Examples Nonexamples

Share One; Get One Give the students a note card or sticky note. Ask the students to record 1 to 3 different concepts, facts, or skills they learned from a lesson. Ask students to walk around the room, share their card with another student, and then trade cards with that student. Continue the process. Share out as a whole class or in small groups.

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!

Sum It Up See hand out.

Gist Log Who 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 students Ask 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.

Summarization Pyramids A synonym for the topic An analogy between the topic and a sport One question it sparks in you 3 facts about the topic 3 words that describe the topic A book title or headline about the topic Causes of the topic Effects of the topic Reasons why we study the topic Personal opinion on the topic Samples of the topic

Summary Ball Begin the activity by tossing a ball to any student. The student who catches the ball has 3 seconds to state any fact, concept or skill learned from the lesson. The student then tosses the ball to another student in the room who has not spoken. The second student states a fact, concept, or skill that hasn’t been mentioned, then tosses the ball.

Think – Pair - Share Give the students a prompt and have them reflect on the prompt and topic of the lesson. Ask students to pair up and to share their responses.

SILENT Give One, Get One Write down one new summarizing activity you want to try with your students on a sticky note Take your sticky note and power point with you Make eye contact with someone (smile) and swap sticky notes Take time to read the note/record any new ideas Mingle and make eye contact with a new partner Shhhh!!

Technology Sites Into the Book Reading Rockets http://reading.ecb.org/teacher/summarizing/summarize_stude ntvideo.html Reading Rockets http://www.readingrockets.org/ Dabble Board http://www.dabbleboard.com/ Reading Quest http://www.readingquest.org/strat/ Instructional Strategies that Work http://classroom.leanderisd.org/webs/marzano/home.htm Podcasting with Quick Time Player

What have you learned about summarizing? Whip Around What have you learned about summarizing? Start with one person sharing an idea. Go around the room with each person giving a new idea. If the person’s idea has already been given he/she can say pass. Keep going around the room until all ideas are presented. (Participants should go around the room, each giving a new idea. If a participants idea was already given, he/she can say pass. Keep going around the room until all ideas are presented). Optional alternate if time short, can just solicit responses from the whole group.

Please do a 3 - 2 - 1 Three things you learned today Two things that surprised you One thing you’ll commit to in your classroom during the rest of this school year