1. Article of the Week Steps to Building Reading Comprehension

2. Week 1: Close Reading Strategies Article: The Warren Harding Error, excerpt from Blink by Malcolm Gladwell Task: Annotate the excerpt using close reading skills

3. Week 1: Close Reading Strategies ● Terms: Look up words or terms you don’t know (or determine their meaning based on context). Define terms that are important to the understanding of the text. ● Ask questions (something you don’t understand or an outside question that pops up) TALK TO THE TEXT… -What does the author mean by this...?- -I wonder what would happen if…? -Ask yourself, so what? Why is this important? ● Make connections (personal or to another text, movie, show, song) ● Summarize STOP! Make meaning of what you just read ● Visualize: Illustrate what the author is trying to say.

4. Week 2: Main Points/Central Idea Article: Are Leaders Born or Made? Scientists Suspect it’s a Little of Both, by Eric Sorensen Task: Annotate using close reading strategies, and identify main points and the central idea of the text.

5. Week 2: Main Points/Central Idea For all AOWs, you always annotate the text using the close reading strategies # Each paragraph O Identify and define key terms ? Ask questions -----> Make connections ] Summarize each section Visualize by drawing a picture This week we will add on the skills of identifying the main points and the central idea

6. Week 2: Main Points/Central Idea Main points: Smaller concepts explained throughout and article. Every paragraph or section, stop and summarize what the author is saying to identify the main point. Central idea: the point that the author is making. You can think of a central idea as a thesis statement, or the takeaway message the author is trying to make. At the end of the article, look over the main points and determine the central idea.

7. Week 3: Tone, Audience, Purpose Article: “What a Homeless Man Taught Me About Leadership,” by Tim McDonald Task: Annotate, identify main points/central idea, and determine tone, audience, and purpose

8. Week 3: Tone, Audience, Purpose Tone: Author's attitude about the topic. Can be expressed through the words and details he/she selects. ● i.e. Informal, sarcastic, judgmental, sincere ● HINT: If you struggle here, google “tonal words” for many more examples

9. Week 3: Tone, Audience, Purpose Audience: The specific group the author is writing for. The author could be writing for several different groups. Be as specific as possible. ● i.e. students, psychologists, doctors, people of a certain ethnicity or race DO NOT write “everyone.” If you feel the author is writing to the general public, give some specific groups within the general public that he/she may be targeting.

10. Week 3: Tone, Audience, Purpose Purpose: The reason the author writes about the topic ● i.e. to inform, persuade, entertain, to argue a certain point ● Hint: Ask yourself, what is the author’s main goal in writing this article.

11. Week 4: Academic Summary Article: Mandela’s Death Leaves South Africa Without Its Moral Center, by Lydia Polgreen Task: Annotate, identify main points/central idea, tone, audience, and purpose in order to write a clear academic summary of the article

12. Week 4: Academic Summary An academic summary is a short, accurate description, in your own words, of the content of a source. An academic summary does not include your own opinion. It is a clear description of the main points of a text.

13. Format ● Include a title for the summary. ● Format your summary as one single paragraph. ● You will be writing a draft in class, but the graded copy will be posted to your blog.

14. Starting your Academic Summary Give your summary a clear title. In the first sentence, formally introduce the name of the author, the title of the text you are summarizing, the genre/tone, and the author’s central idea.

15. Sample First Sentence In his inspirational article, “What a Homeless Man Taught Me About Leadership,” Huffington Post columnist Tim McDonald emphasizes that leadership is not about fame, money, or leading the masses, but rather about connecting with and helping people on a daily basis. ToneTitle of article Author Central Idea

16. Body of your Academic Summary ● Present the main points and necessary supporting points ● Use occasional “author tags” (e.g., “according to Rogers ” or “ as Rogers says”) to remind the reader and yourself that you are ● Do not alter the author’s meaning. ● Select material for inclusion carefully. Do not exceed the length limit o Omit less important points and supporting detail o Generalize long examples or sections in the text.

17. Sample Body of the paragraph McDonald begins by explaining his interaction with a homeless man in his neighborhood, which reminds him that leadership is not about fame or money, but rather how you treat people. The author then turns to Facebook to post about his interaction and discuss this idea with others. He learns that many of his friends interact with homeless people in their own neighborhoods, and then highlights the idea that everyone should stop and notice these people. McDonald stresses that sharing positive actions with others can be more powerful than the action itself. In order to be a leader, people just need to help others; if everyone did this, these small acts would lead to much bigger effects. McDonald concludes with the idea that homelessness doesn’t define a person and that we all need to get to know one another in order to all be leaders in society.

18. Tips ● Do not include: o Your opinions about the ideas summarized or the quality of the writing o Unnecessary repetition and restatements o Extensive quotations. o Minor points and details: stick to the major points; don’t mention specific details and examples—focus on getting at the idea that those examples support

19. End with an MLA citation McDonald, Tim. "What a Homeless Man Taught Me About Leadership." Huffington Post. N.p., 15 Feb. 2014. Web. Use Easybib or Bibme OWL at Purdue is also a great resource

20. Academic Summary Reteach An academic summary is a short, accurate description, in your own words, of the content of a source. An academic summary does not include your own opinion or any outside information. It is a clear description of the main points of a text.

21. Step 1: Read the article CAREFULLY read the article: ● Annotate using close reading strategies ● Determine ALL main points ● Determine central idea ● Determine tone, audience, and purpose

22. Central Idea Must be specific and tell us something about the content of the article ● Non-example: The central idea of this article is about Nelson Mandela. Check the central idea that you wrote for the article, and make sure it is thorough.

23. Central Idea Good example: Nelson Mandela was a truly inspirational leader and a great man and his death was felt by people of all ages and races, all over the world. Adjust your central idea if it is lacking.

24. Step 2: Title and First sentence Give your summary a clear title. In the first sentence, formally introduce the name of the author, the genre/tone, the title of the text you are summarizing, and the central idea of the text.

25. First sentence non-examples ● Nelson Mandela was a great leader of South Africa. ● In her NYT article titled “Mandela’s Death Leave South Africa Without Its Moral Center,” Lydia Polgreen writes about Nelson Mandela’s life. Why are these not good examples?

26. Practice Write a potential first sentence for an academic summary of the Mandela article.

27. Sample First Sentence In her reverent article, “Mandela’s Death Leaves South Africa Without Its Moral Center,” Lydia Polgreen of the New York Times remembers Nelson Mandela as a truly inspirational leader and a great man and explains that his death is felt by people of all ages and races, all over the world. tone Title of article Central Idea Author

28. Step 3: Body of the Paragraph/Main points In order to write a good summary, it is CRUCIAL that you accurately and thoroughly determine ALL the main points of the article. Then, you transfer each of those main points into a sentence in your summary.

29. Practice Look back at your Mandela article: Do you have all of the following main points summarized in your own words? Read main points on handout

30. Practice Each of these main points is then transferred into a sentence in the actual summary. Practice writing the first main point on your own

31. Author Tags Finally, use AUTHOR TAGS (Polgreen emphasizes, Polgreen examines) to connect the main points and create cohesion in your paragraph. Read sample together

32. Academic Summary Assessment Next Thursday, you will have a chance to redeem yourself: ● Academic Summary assessment of a new article, written in class. ● Worth 40 points (double) in the writing category.