Summarizing Strategies

Purpose: To engage students in reflecting, evaluating, and integrating their learning Description: This activity emphasized the important role that reflection plays in the learning process. Final Countdown provides learners with a framework for reflection, evaluation, and integration of new knowledge into previously learned material.

Procedure: 

1. Ask students to individually reflect over what they have learned about the topic being reviewed. 

2. Using the Final Countdown worksheet, have students write the three most important things they learned about the topic. 

3. On the second tier of the Final Countdown, have students write two questions they still have about the topic. These should be questions that they expect to get answers to; likewise, questions they will get answers to.

 4. Finally, on the top tier of the Final Countdown, have students write one way in which what they have learned relates or connects to material previously learned.

 Rogers, S., Ludington, J., & Graham, S. (1999). Motivation and learning: A teacher's guide to building excitement for learning and igniting the drive for quality. Evergreen, CO: Peak Learning Systems. 

Purpose: Expanding a group’s understanding of text in a structured way and in a limited amount of time, providing equal opportunity for all members to participate. 

Structure: Groups are organized. People sit in a circle or around a table. 

•  A facilitator and timekeeper are chosen for each round.  

• Time is organized into rounds of discussion with the number of rounds equaling the number of groups members.  

• Each round lasts 7 minutes (if groups have 4 members), 8 minutes (if groups have 5 members), 9 minutes (if groups have 6 members).  

• Timing for each round: 

  • The person who starts gets 3 minutes. 

  • The second and remaining group members responding get 1 minute each. 

  • The person who started gets 1 more minute to have “The Final Word”.

Preparation: After reading and reflecting on a common text, each person in the group selects two or three significant quotes or sections that appear important, interesting or of value. 

Procedures: 

1. One person begins the round by explaining the significance of his/her selection from the text (3 minutes). 

2. Each remaining person in turn then comments on that same selection from the text (1 minute): o In response to what the first person said o In any other way that extends the understanding of that section 

3. After each remaining person has commented for one minute, the person who began the round now has “The Final Word” to add any insights or to comment on what has been raised by other members of the group (1 minute). 

4. A new round begins with the next person in the group becoming the first person 

Purpose: To activate students' prior knowledge of a concept, idea, or skill.

 Description: The First Word is a variation on traditional acronyms. By going through the process of analyzing words and creating related sentences, students will gain a deeper understanding of the meaning. 

Procedure: 1

. Assign students the name of an object, a topic, or a key concept to write vertically down the side of a page. 

2. Working in small groups or on their own, students should generate a short phrase or sentence that begins with each letter of the vertical work and offers important information or key characteristics about the topic. 

3. Students can illustrate their "First Words" for posting around the classroom. Sharing "First Words" will allow students to identify important concepts that may have been left out of their own work. 

Purpose: To engage students in reflecting, evaluating, and integrating their own learning into prior knowledge. Description: Four-Two-One uses learning partners or small teams to foster in-depth reflection and integration of significant information. 

Procedure: 

1. Ask students to individually generate four words that capture the most important aspects of the learning experience. 

2. Share, with learning partners or in small teams, their four words and compile a list of the words they have in common. From this list, determine two words that they agree to capture the most important aspects. 

3. Determine the 1 word or big idea that best represents the most important learning of the experience. 

4. Share the various lists generated by their group in order for the whole class to make as many learning connections as possible. 

Hint: As a variation of this activity, have the students generate phrases or sentences instead of words. 

Rogers, S., Ludington, J., & Graham, S. (1999). Motivation and learning: A teacher's guide to building excitement for learning and igniting the drive for quality. Evergreen, CO: Peak Learning Systems.

image: https://msbinstructionalcoach.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/4-2-1-freewrite1.jpg 

There are several variations of this.

Purpose: To motivate student learning

 Description: In this activity, several students will be asked to sit in the "Hot Seat" and answer questions related to the topic of study. 

Procedure: 

1. Prior to the beginning of class, the teacher will prepare questions related to the topic of study and write them on sticky notes. Four to five questions are usually enough. 

2. Place the sticky notes underneath student desks/chairs so that they are hidden from view. 

3. At the start of the class, inform students that several of them are sitting on "Hot Seats" and will be asked to answer questions related to the topic of study for the day. 

4. Have students check their desks/chairs for the strategically placed sticky notes. 

5. Students who have questions on sticky notes will then take turns reading the question and attempting to provide an answer. Due to the nature of this motivational activity, these should be questions that students are able to answer. 

Purpose: To engage students in reinforcing their understanding of words or concepts through the use of a creative comparison 

Description: Synectics promotes fluid and creative thinking by "making what is familiar strange," or comparing two things that would not ordinarily be compared. Synectics, a term coined by industrial psychologists Williams Gordan and George Prince, was originally used as a problem-solving strategy. The term is formed from two Greek roots: syn, bringing together, and ectics, diverse elements. 

Procedure: 

1. Prepare a chart or overhead transparency of the Four Box Synectics organizer. 

2. Put students into small groups of 3-4 each. 

3. Next, ask for four items in an assigned category ( e.g., commonly found household objects, animals, things found in a forest, recreational activities, and foods). Place one item in each of the four boxes. 

4. Reveal the sentence "A _____ is like a _____ because…" and allow groups three minutes to brainstorm sentences using each of the four items at least once. Students should try to complete as many sentences as they can in the time allotted. 

5. After three minutes, STOP. The final step is for each group to choose the two sentences they like the best to share with the rest of the class. 

Lipton, L., & Wellman, B. (1998). Patterns and practices in the learning-focused classroom. Guilford, Vermont: Pathways Publishing. 

Purpose: To increase comprehension by focusing student learning within a controlled context

 Description: Learning frames are a sequence of spaces connected by key language elements to help students focus their learning. The purpose is threefold: 

1) to provide a framework to guide students' understanding and responding; 

2) to give a structured format to follow for engaging in a writing activity; 

3) to help students develop independent comprehension strategies.

 Procedure: 

1. Display a transparency copy of the Learning Frame on an overhead. Explain to the students that this frame, like the frame of a new house, will allow them to fill the blanks with information from what they just learned. 

2. Model the Learning Frame by filling in the frame using information learned in the day's lesson. 

3. Read the frame aloud. 

4. Next, pass out a blank Learning Frame to each student. 

5. Allow students to fill out their Learning Frames in a manner that reflects what they learned from the day's lesson. 

Wood, K. (2001). Literacy strategies across the subject areas. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. 

In their cooperative groups, students number off 1 to 4. The teacher gives the group a problem and time to think and write. Students put their heads together to make sure everyone knows and understands the answer. The teacher calls a number and the students with that number either raise their hands or stand up. The teacher then calls on a student to answer or the teacher can ask for a simultaneous response from all students with that number. (A good way to do this is with small dry-erase boards – 2’ X 2’ for example.) For more active participation, the teacher can ask all students to give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down for each response. 

Video above is a variation on activity.

Purpose: To engage students in synthesizing major concepts in this summary strategy

 Description: Using the Shaping Up Review, students will synthesize major concepts from the lesson using four different shapes. By varying the manner in which students visually summarize their learning, retention of the information learned is increased.

Procedure: 

1. Pass out the Shaping Up Review worksheet. 

2. In the upper left-hand corner, "The Heart," have students write one thing that they loved learning about in the lesson being reviewed. 

3. In the upper right-hand corner, "The Square," have students write four things that they feel are important concepts from the lesson being reviewed. One concept should be placed in each corner.

4. In the lower left-hand corner, "The Triangle," have students write the three most important facts they learned from the lesson being reviewed. One fact should go in each corner. 

5. In the lower right-hand corner, "The Circle," have students write one, all-encompassing (global- like the circle) statement that summarizes all of the important concepts and facts learned in the lesson being reviewed. 

One of the best ways for a teacher to assess comprehension of printed text is to ask the reader to summarize what was read. A skilled reader can usually handle this task with minimal teacher assistance. A reader who struggles, however, may have difficulty recognizing and extracting critical information. The summation pyramid is a graphic organizer that can aid in helping middle and high school students create summaries of text information by helping draw out summary information in small manageable parts. 

The summation pyramid is helpful as a tool to guide students in the selection of a few keywords and phrases that capture the essence of the text. After completing the pyramid, students should use the keywords/phrases to write a summary. 

1. The summation pyramid has six sections. Starting at the top of the pyramid (section one), the student is to write one word that states the topic or main issue of the text. 

2. Then, in section two, write two words that “expand or add” information related to the word listed in the top section. 

3. Continue filling in the pyramid with phrases that contain the number of words matching the section number. The information written in each section should comprise a connected thought that adds new critical information from the text or expands one of the preceding sections. 

4. If desired, students may jot down 1-2 additional facts or dates at the bottom of the pyramid to help clarify what was written. 

5. Using the critical elements from the pyramid, students should construct a brief summary of the text. 

Note: To guide students in successfully selecting words/phrases for the pyramid, teachers are encouraged to model the process using the think-aloud strategy. It is also helpful to remind students to ask themselves to distinguish between important/unimportant, critical/nonessential, or major/minor data. 

Purpose: To activate student learning through creative thinking 

Description: In this activity, students will take on the role of the topic to be studied for the purpose of creating a vanity plate. While in this role, students will need to think creatively about their topic in order to share their vanity plate. 

Procedure: 

1. Assign a topic of study (for example, "The Internet") 

2. Have students take on the role of the topic by telling them, "Pretend you are X." 

3. Students will then create a vanity plate related to the topic of study. In many states, license plates may have up to 8 characters. However, you may use as many characters as you feel necessary. 

4. Have students share their vanity plates by lining up in parallel lines, student-facing student. 

5. Rotate one line of students so that each student has the opportunity to view all vanity places in the facing line. 

6. This motivating strategy will increase students' desire to learn more about a topic while also increasing their knowledge of a topic. 

Purpose: To engage students in the activity of classifying topics, words, and phrases, into categories based upon their knowledge of the content. 

Description: In this activity, students have the chance to classify topics, words, and phrases into categories. The process of sorting and classifying strengthens the student's ability to comprehend and retain difficult information. Through a discussion of possible solutions, students negotiate the contextual meaning of the topics, words, or phrases they are sorting. 

Procedure: 

1. Generate a list of words related to the topic for review. These words should fall into one of the following categories: Important Characteristics, Uses, Examples, and NonExamples. (Hint: These categories can be changed to accommodate your topic of study.) 

2. Make a copy of both the word list and the Frayer Model graphic organizer on transparency paper. 

3. Cut out the words on the word list and store them in a zip-lock bag when not in use. 

4. Lay the graphic organizer on an overhead projector. 

5. Place word list words in the center of the graphic organizer one at a time (jumble the order) allowing students to identify the appropriate quadrant location for the word. 

Hint: When using this as a warm-up activity, allow students to make errors that will be corrected as you teach your lesson. When using this as a review activity, identify mistakes and re-teach topics when students make errors.