Summarization

in any Subject

Ohio Middle Level Association 2014

Rick Wormelirwormeli@cox.net

703-620-2447@rickwormeli (Twitter)www.rickwormeli.net

Six Word Memoirs

Sample:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” - Ernest Hemingway

Other Samples:

Need more friends or more hobbies.

Old age approaches. Better start now.

My entourage asleep in his crib.

Some shoes will take you anywhere.

Life packed neatly away in boxes.

My greatest ideas involve duct tape.

Two eyes open, but still nearsighted.

Hobby became job. Seeking new hobby.

Let’s make it okay to fail in the pursuit of learning, and let’s model it. Set up real situations in which we do not know answers or how to solve problems, then find the answer or solve the problem constructively so students see what it looks like to not know something yet remain a respected individual in the community. Many students do not push themselves to explore different talents or new thinking because they are focused on protecting their reputations as the persons who always get the right answers. What potential is lost because a student needs to protect his personal status quo?

Definition:

Summarization is restating the essence of text or an experience in as few words as possible or in a new yet efficient, manner.

Summarization Tips

Create or activate personal background. Prime the brain. Plan according to the Primacy-Recency

Effect. Use summary experiences before, during,

and after lessons. Teach students to recognize familiar text

structures . Teach students to recognize familiar writing

structures. Use analogies. Chunk text and experiences.

More Summarization Tips

Use reading notations. Allow students to mark consumable and non-

consumable text. Emphasize opinion free summaries – no

commentaries. Teach students to evaluate their own

summarizations. Set length limit of 10 to 25% original text,

< 1% for longer text. Encourage two or more readings or

exposures.

Reading Notations

P I agree with this.  X I disagree with this.  ?? I don’t understand this.  !! Wow! (‘Elicits a strong emotion) CL General Claim EV Evidence for the Claim

(These can be numbered to indicate their sequence, too: EV1, EV2,

EV3…)

Word Morphology:Teach Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes!

Mal – badly, poorMeta – beyond, after,

changeMis – incorrect, badMono – oneMulti – manyNeo – newNon – notOb, of, op, oc – toward,

against

Oct – eight 

Paleo – ancient Para – beside, almost  Penta – five  Per – throughout, completely  Peri – around  Poly – many  Post – after  Pre – before  Pseudo – false

Avoid ConfabulationThe brain seeks wholeness. It will fill in the holes in

partial learning with made-up learning and experiences, and it will convince itself that this

was the original learning all along. To prevent this:

Deal with Misconceptions!

Students should summarize material they already understand, not material they are coming

to know.

Chronological OrderDefinition and Key words: This involves putting facts,

events, a concepts into sequence using time references to order them. Signal words include on (date), now, before, since, when, not long after, and gradually.

“Astronomy came a long way in the 1500s and 1600s. In 1531, Halley’s Comet appeared and caused great panic. Just twelve years later, however, Copernicus realized that the sun was the center of the solar system, not the Earth, and astronomy became a way to understand the natural world, not something to fear. In the early part of the next century, Galileo made the first observations with a new instrument – the telescope. A generation later, Sir Issac Newton invented the reflecting telescope, a close cousin to what we use today. Halley’s Comet returned in 1682 and it was treated as a scientific wonder, studied by Edmund Halley.”

Compare and ContrastDefintion and Key words: Explains similarities and

differences. Signal words include however, as well as, not only, but, while, unless, yet, on the other hand, either/or, although, similarly, and unlike.

“Middle school gives students more autonomy than elementary school. While students are asked to be responsible for their learning in both levels, middle school students have more pressure to follow through on assignments on their own, rather than rely on adults. In addition, narrative forms are used to teach most literacy skills in elementary school. On the other hand, expository writing is the way most information is given in middle school.”

Cause and EffectDefinition and Key words: Shows how something

happens through the impact of something else. Signal words include because, therefore, as a result, so that, accordingly, thus, consequently, this led to, and nevertheless.

“Drug abusers often start in upper elementary school. They experiment with a parent’s beer and hard liquor and they enjoy the buzz they receive. They keep doing this and it starts taking more and more of the alcohol to get the same level of buzz. As a result, the child turns to other forms of stimulation including marijuana. Since these are the initial steps that usually lead to more hardcore drugs such as Angel Dust (PCP), heroin, and crack cocaine, marijuana and alcohol are known as “gateway drugs.” Because of their addictive nature, these gateway drugs lead many youngsters who use them to the world of hardcore drugs.”

Problem and SolutionDefinition and Key words: Explains how a difficult situation,

puzzle, or conflict develops, then what was done to solve it. Signal words are the same as Cause and Effect above.

“The carrying capacity of a habitat refers to the amount of plant and animal life its resources can hold. For example, if there are only 80 pounds of food available and there are animals that together need more than 80 pounds of food to survive, one or more animals will die – the habitat can’t “carry” them. Humans have reduced many habitats’ carrying capacity by imposing limiting factors that reduce its carrying capacity such as housing developments, road construction, dams, pollution, fires, and acid rain. So that they can maintain full carrying capacity in forest habitats, Congress has enacted legislation that protects endangered habitats from human development or impact. As a result, these areas have high carrying capacities and an abundance of plant and animal life.”

Proposition and SupportDefintion and Key words: The author makes a general statement

followed by two or more supporting details. Key words include: In addition, also, as well as, first, second, finally, in sum, in support of, therefore, in conclusion.

“There are several reasons that teachers should create prior knowledge in students before teaching important concepts. First, very little goes into long-term memory unless it’s attached to something already in storage. Second, new learning doesn’t have the meaning necessary for long-term retention unless the student can see the context in which it fits. Finally, the brain likes familiarity. It finds concepts with which it is familiar compelling. In sum, students learn better when the teacher helps students to create personal backgrounds with new topics prior to learning about them.

Claim and EvidenceDefintion and Key words: The author makes a general statement

followed by two or more supporting details. Key words include: In addition, also, as well as, first, second, finally, in sum, in support of, therefore, in conclusion.

“There are several reasons that teachers should create prior knowledge in students before teaching important concepts. First, very little goes into long-term memory unless it’s attached to something already in storage. Second, new learning doesn’t have the meaning necessary for long-term retention unless the student can see the context in which it fits. Finally, the brain likes familiarity. It finds concepts with which it is familiar compelling. In sum, students learn better when the teacher helps students to create personal backgrounds with new topics prior to learning about them.

EnumerationDefinition and Key words: Focuses on listing facts,

characteristics, or features. Signal words include to begin with, secondly, then, most important, in fact, for example, several, numerous, first, next finally, also, for instance, and in addition.

“The moon is our closest neighbor. It’s 250,000 miles away. It’s gravity is only 1/6 that of Earth. This means a boy weighing 120 pounds in Virginia would weigh only 20 pounds on the moon. In addition, there is no atmosphere on the moon. The footprints left by astronauts back in 1969 are still there, as crisply formed as they were on the day they were made. The lack of atmosphere also means there is no water on the moon, an important problem when traveling there.”

Text Structures[Taking Notes with Compare/Contrast]

Concept 1 Concept 2

Components of Blood Content Matrix

Red Cells White Cells Plasma Platelets

Purpose

Amount

Size & Shape

Nucleus ?

Where formed

Carries Oxygen and Nutrients

5,000,000 per CC

Small, indented, like Cheerios

None

Bone Marrow, Spleen

The student’s rough draft:

Red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients around the body. They are small and indented in the middle, like little Cheerios. There are 5 million per cc of blood. There is no nucleus in mature red blood cells. They are formed in the bone marrow and spleen.

T-List or T-Chart: Wilson’s 14 Points

Reasons President Wilson Designed the Plan for Peace

Three Immediate Effects on U.S. Allies

Three Structures/Protocols created by the Plans

Main Ideas Details/Examples

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3

Cornell Note-Taking Format

Reduce Record

[Summarize inshort phrasesor essentialquestions next to each blockof notes.]

   Review -- Summarize (paragraph-style)

your points or responses to the questions. Reflect and comment on what you learned.

[Write your notes on this side.]

Writing to Concisely

[Examples and ideas come from William Brohaugh’s book, Write Tight, published in 1993 by Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio.]

Avoid Redundant Phrases and Repeating Yourself (): [P. 185-188]

More additions, absolutely certain/essential/necessary, added bonus, add up, advance forward, all done, alternative choice, a.m. in the morning, and also, annual birthday, baby puppy/kitten, blended together, brief moment, but however, close down, combined together, continue on, deliberate lie, empty space, end result, exact match, extra bonus, fall down, fatal suicide, first discovered, foot pedal, forecast the future, foreign imports, free gift, general public, interpret to mean, large-sized, later on, major breakthrough, map out, may/might possibly, mental telepathy, natural instinct, necessary requirement, never before, new beginning, new record, old antique, orbiting satellite, pair of twins, past achievement/experience/performance, physically located, plan ahead, p.m. in the evening, possible candidate, preliminary draft, proceed ahead, raise up, refer back, repeat over, rise up, same identical, separate individual, stack together, stand up, switch over, tiny particle, true facts, unexpected surprise, violent explosion, visible to the eye, weather conditions, while at the same time, wink an eye, x-ray photograph, young child/puppy/kitten

Loose Wordy Version Concise Version

A small number of people Three people

Appear on the scene Arrived

In back of Behind

I’m amazed by the fact that you took the last cookie.

I’m amazed that you took the last cookie.

For this exam, you need to use a pencil. For this exam, you need a pencil.

His whole speech bothered me. His speech bothered me.

John Wilkes Booth was the person who shot President Lincoln.

John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln.

In order to get the job done, keep at it. To get the job done, keep at it.

The book devotes an entire chapter to… The book devotes a chapter to…

Somebody Wanted But So[Fiction]

 

Somebody (characters)…

wanted (plot-motivation)…,

but (conflict)…,

so (resolution)… .

Something HappenedAnd Then[Non-fiction]

 

Something (independent variable)…

happened (change in that independent variable)…,

and (effect on the dependent variable)…,

then (conclusion)… .

When we summarize, we:

Delete some elements Keep some elements Substitute for some elements.

“DKS”Ask students to memorize these three actions.

TaRGeTS (Based on Rules-Based Summaries, 1968)

T - Trivia (Remove trivial material) 

R - Redundancies (Remove redundant information)

G - Generalize (Replace specifics/lists with general terms and phrases)

 TS - Determine the Topic Sentence

Topic Sentence

TS = subject + author’s claim about subject

Subject: Dogs

Claim: Make great pets

TS: “Dogs make great pets.”

Help with Paraphrasing

Build students’ vocabulary and verbal dexterity. Post word banks. Use vocabulary immersion.

Provide repeated experiences with varied sentence combinations and word play.

Use repeated think-alouds of a paraphraser at work from both teacher and students.

Provide ample opportunities to assess paraphrasings of original text or experience.

Take a page from the active listening lessons -- “So what you’re saying is…”

Provide repeated experiences with encapsulation such as creating newspaper headlines.

Play renaming and clue games such as Password, Taboo, and $25,000 Pyramid.

Evaluating our Summaries Does it convey the information accurately? Is it too narrow or too broad? Does it convey

all of the important elements? Does it convey too much?

Are the ideas in the right sequence? Would someone else using this summary

gain all they needed to know to understand the subject?

Did I leave out my opinion and just report an undistorted essence of the original content?

Did I use my own words and style?

Writing about Math

Paragraph 1: What is the problem about? What am I supposed to find?

Paragraph 2: Step-by-Step explanation: First, I…, then I…Finally, I…

Paragraph 3: My answer is ______. My answer makes sense because…

-- Adapted from Kenney, quoting Jubinville, 2005, p. 38

Concept Ladder(J.W. Gillet, C. Temple, 1986, as described in Inside Words, Janet Allen)

Concept:

Causes of:

Effects of:

Language associated with:

Words that mean the same as:

Historical examples:

Contemporary examples:

Evidence of:

Literature connections made:

3-2-1

3 – Identify three characteristics of Renaissance art that differed from art of the Middle Ages2 – List two important scientific debates that occurred during the Renaissance1 – Provide one good reason why “rebirth” is an appropriate term to describe the Renaissance

3 – List three applications for slope, y-intercept knowledge in the professional world2 – Identify two skills students must have in order to determine slope and y-intercept from a set of points

on a plane1 – If (x1, y1) are the coordinates of a point W in a plane, and (x2, y2) are the coordinates of a different

point Y, then the slope of line WY is what?

3-2-1

3 – Identify at least three differences

between acids and bases

2 – List two uses of acids and two uses

of bases

1 – State one reason why knowledge of

acids and bases is important to

citizens in our community

Backwards Summaries “Make the web from which this paragraph came.” “Here’s the completed math solution. What would

happen if I had never considered the absolute value of x?”

“Here’s the final French translation of this sentence. What if I had not checked the tense of each verb?”

“Here’s a well done concerto. What happens if I remove the oboe’s eight measures on page 4?”

“Here’s a well-done lab procedure. What happens if I don’t use distilled water?”

Save the Last Word for Me Students read the passage, making notations as they go. They identify three or more sentences to which they have a

response. Place students in groups of 3 to 5, then ask one member of

each group to read a line that he has identified. He reads only; there is no commentary or reason for choosing it given.

Each group member other than the reading person responds to that one line – agreeing, refuting, supporting, clarifying, commenting, or questioning.

After everyone else has had a chance to make a personal response to the statement, the originator of the line gets to offer his or her commentary – “getting the last word” on the topic.

When this round of discussion is done, the next person in the circle calls out his chosen line from the text, and everyone responds to the line before this second person offers his commentary. So it goes with each member of the group.

Change the Point of View Tell the story of digestion from the points of view of

the bolus passing down the esophagus, the villi in the small intestine that have capillaries receiving and carrying nutrients to the bloodstream, or a muscle in the body that finally receives the nutrients from the food ingested earlier.

Re-tell an historical incident from a biased participant’s point of view.

Reveal the truth behind a pronoun being a subject or an object based on which one did the action and which one received the action.

Re-tell the account of a scientific, mathematical, or manufacturing process, a moment in history, a chemical’s reaction, a concerto’s performance, or a comma’s position in a sentence.

The Frayer Model[Frayer, Frederick, Klausmeier, 1969]

Essential Characteristics

Non- Essential Characteristics

Examples Non-examples

< Topic >

“Word Link”

1. Each student gets a word.2. In partners, students share the link(s)

between their individual words.3. Partner team joins another partner team,

forming a “word cluster.”4. All four students identify the links among

their words and share those links with the class.

-- Yopp, Ruth Helen. “Word Links: A Strategy for Developing Word Knowledge,” Voices in the Middle, Vol. 15, Number 1, September 2007, National Council Teachers of English

Summarization Pyramid

__________

______________

____________________

_________________________

______________________________

___________________________________

Great prompts for each line: Synonym, analogy, question, three attributes, alternative title, causes, effects, reasons, arguments, ingredients, opinion, larger category, formula/sequence, insight, tools, misinterpretation, sample, people, future of the topic

One-Word Summaries

“The new government regulations for the meat-packing industry in the 1920’s could be seen as an opportunity…,”

“Picasso’s work is actually an argument for….,” “NASA’s battle with Rockwell industries over the

warnings about frozen temperatures and the O-rings on the space shuttle were trench warfare….”

Basic Idea: Argue for or against the word as a good description for the topic.

Exclusion Brainstorming

The student identifies the word/concept that does not belong with the others, then either orally or in writing explains his reasoning:

Mixtures – plural, separable, dissolves, no formula Compounds – chemically combined, new properties,

has formula, no composition Solutions – heterogeneous mixture, dissolved

particles, saturated and unsaturated, heat increases Suspensions – clear, no dissolving, settles upon

standing, larger than molecules

Share One, Get One

 Analyze… Construct…Revise… Rank…Decide between…Argue against…Why did… Argue for…Defend… Contrast…Devise… Develop…Identify… Plan…Classify… Critique…Define… Rank…Compose… Organize…Interpret… Interview…Expand… Predict…Develop… Categorize…

Suppose… Invent…Imagine… Recommend…

In-Out Game: Students determine the classification a teacher’s statements exemplify, then they confirm their hypothesis by offering elements “in the club” and elements “out of the club.” They don’t identify the club, just the items in and out of it. If the students’ suggestions fit the pattern, the teacher invites them to be a part of the club. The game continues until everyone is a member.

Example: She is in the club but the class is not. They are in the club, but the penguins are not. You are in the club, but the donuts are not. Give me something in and out of the club.” A student guesses correctly that the club is for personal pronouns, so she says, “We are in the club, but moon rocks are not.” To make it a bit more complex, announce the club’s elements and non-elements in unusual ways that must also be exemplified by the students, such as making all the items in and out of the club alliterative or related in some way. This can be as obvious or as complex as you want it to be.

Descriptions With and Without Metaphors

Friendship Family

Infinity Imperialism

Solving for a variable Trust

Euphoria Mercy

Worry Trouble

Obstructionist Judiciary Honor

Immigration Homeostasis

Balance Temporal Rifts

Economic Principles Religious fervor

Poetic License Semantics

Heuristics Tautology

Embarrassment Knowledge

Same Concept, Multiple Domains

The Italian Renaissance: Symbolize curiosity, technological advancement, and cultural shifts through mindmaps, collages, graphic organizers, paintings, sculptures, comic strips, political cartoons, music videos, websites, computer screensavers, CD covers, or advertisements displayed in the city subway system.

The economic principle of supply and demand: What would it look like as a floral arrangement, in the music world, in fashion, or dance? Add some complexity: How would each of these expressions change if were focusing on a bull market or the economy during a recession?

Premise:

There is not any curriculum so symbolic or abstract that we cannot “physicalize” it for better student learning.

Physicalizing Process:

Identify essential components, pieces, or definition of whatever we’re teaching

Physicalize those pieces and present them to the class.

Class critiques the physicalization in terms of accuracy, comprehensiveness, appropriateness, and clarity. ‘Makes suggestions for improvement.

All three steps are learning experiences that help students internalize the knowledge.

Highly Recommended for Summarization Ideas

Check out NCTE’s ReadWriteThink.org Web site!

Allen, Janet. Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and Guided Paths to Independent Reading 4-12, Stenhouse Publishers, 2000

Allen, Janet. Words, Words, Words: Teaching Vocabulary in Grades 4-12, Stenhouse Publishers, 1999

Allen, Janet. Tools for Teaching Content Literacy (flipbook), Stenhouse, 2004

Billmeyer, Rachel, Ph.D.; Barton, Mary Lee. Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me, Then Who? 2nd Edition McREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, 1998

Barton, Mary Lee; Heidema, Clare. Teaching Reading in Mathematics, ASCD, McREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, 2000 (Also distributed by ASCD)

Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do, Heinemann, 2003

Beers, Kylene and Samuels, Barabara G. (1998) Into Focus: Understanding and Creating Middle School Readers. Norwood, Massachusetts: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.

Highly Recommended for Summarization Ideas Buehl, Doug. Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning (second Edition)

(2001) Newark, Delaware, International Reading Association, Inc. Burke, Jim. Illuminating Texts: How to Teach Students to Read the World,

Heinemann, 2001 Burkhardt, Ross M. Writing for Real: Strategies for Engaging Adolescent

Writers, Stenhouse Publishers, 2003 Frender, Gloria. Learning to Learn: Strengthening Study Skills and Brain

Power, Incentive Publications, Inc., 1990 Forsten, Char; Grant, Jim; Hollas, Betty. Differentiated Instruction: Different

Strategies for Different Learners, Crystal Springs Books, 2001 [This is great for K-8]

Forsten, Char: Grant, Jim; Hollas, Betty. Differentiating Textbooks: Strategies to Improve Student Comprehension and Motivation, Crystal Springs Books

Glynn, Carol. Learning on their Feet: A Sourcebook for Kinesthetic Learning Across the Curriculum, Discover Writing Press, 2001

Harvey, Stephanie (1998) Nonfiction Matters: Reading, Writing, and Research in Grades 3 – 8. Portsmouth,Maine: Stenhouse Publishers

Harvey, Stephanie; Goudvis, Anne. Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding, Stenhouse Publishers, 2000

Hyerle, David. A Field Guide to Visual Tools, ASCD, 2000

Highly Recommended for Summarization Ideas Marzano, Robert J.; Pickering, Debra J.; Pollock, Jane E.

Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, ASCD, 2001

Robb, Laura. Teaching Reading in Middle School. Scholastic, 2000 Robb, Laura (editor). Reader’s Handbook, Great Source Education

Group, Houghtoun-Mifflin (Same group that does Write Source 2000 and Writer’s, Inc.)

Sousa, Dr. David A. How the Brain Learns. Corwin Press, 2002 Spandel, Vicki; Stiggins, Richard J. Creating Writers: Linking

Writing Assessment and Instruction, Longman Publishers, 1997 Stephens, Elaine C. and Brown, Jean E. (2000) A Handbook of

Content Literacy Strategies: 75 Practical Reading and Writing Ideas. Norwood, Massachusetts: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.

Strong, Richard W.; Silver, Harvey F.; Perini, Matthew J.; Tuculescu, Gregory M. Reading for Academic Success: Powerful Strategies for Struggling, Average, and Advanced Readers, Grades 7-12, Corwin Press, 2002

Highly Recommended for Summarization Ideas

Tovani, Cris. I Read It, But I Don’t Get It. Stenhouse Publishers, 2001

Tovani, Cris. Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Content Comprehension Grades 6-12, Stenhouse, 2004

Vacca, R. and Vacca J. (1999) Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum. 6th ed. New York: Longman

Wood, Karen D.; Harmon, Janis M. Strategies for Integrating Reading and Writing in Middle and High School Classrooms, National Middle School Association, 2001

Wormeli, Rick. Summarization in any Subject, ASCD, 2005

Wormeli, Rick. Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching any Subject, Stenhouse, 2009

Zinsser, William. Writing to Learn (1988)New York: Harper and Row Publishers

Reflecting on Summarizing:

“I used to think…, but now

I think…”