S UMMARIZING : R EADING C OMPREHENSION S TRATEGY Taylor Patterson Kimbyatta Farley Brittany Donaldson Amesha Martin

W HAT IS SUMMARIZING ? Most effective comprehensive strategy of all Builds organizational strategy determining main ideas supporting details Students can evaluate their own understanding (metacognition).

W HAT IS SUMMARIZING ? Most effective comprehensive strategy of all reflected through their writing Structural organization of text is learned without students even knowing. Students often pick out information that appeals to them versus the audience. Information is deleted and/or ideas and not combined or condensed Once students put information into their own words, they can begin to combine and condense their writing.

I NTRODUCING S UMMARIZING Summaries need not to be written Retelling is a natural way to lead into summarizing. Certain activities can build summarizing or its underlying skills. Encourage students to use titles, illustrations, topic sentences, headings, and other textual cues.

I NTRODUCING S UMMARIZING Children summarize when they describe a real event or retell a story. Present summarizing as a tool that students can use to share information. Being able to determine the relative importance of information is essential for summarizing.

G ROUP S UMMARIZING When students work together to summarize material, it is considered group summarizing. Teachers should give students a chance to read the material individually before summarizing. To enhance comprehension and the organization of details, teachers can give students a reading guide to use while reading.

G ROUP S UMMARIZING Group summarizing allows students determine the key facts, review the material further, combine multiple strategies, and practice schemas. Working as a group to summarize is effective for all students but especially for English Language Learners.

G ROUP S UMMARIZING The Approach is an effective system to teach students to write a 3 sentence summary. After students discuss the information read, students will write a 2 sentence summary followed by a one sentence approach. The ultimate goal of summarizing is to teach students to expand the reader’s view and create a more general statement of the material.

P RESENTING S UMMARIZING S KILLS Start with short, easy text to teach summarization. Use a narrative text rather than expository text to start teaching summarization. Focus on the content of the text instead of the form.

P RESENTING S UMMARIZING S KILLS Because of the beginning difficulty of determining details, have students complete a list of important details or create a semantic map before summarization. Construction of maps or lists helps students grasp important information about big ideas of the text.

R EFERENCES Pearson Custom Education: Developing literacy: LITR New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, p Farstrup, A. E., & Samuels, S. J. (Eds.) (2002). What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd ed.). Newark, DE: IRA.