The reading strategy of summarizing is very important for students to learn in their primary years of school. The definition of summarizing is when we take large selections of text and reduce them, making sure to include the main points and the general idea of the article (Jones, 2012). The purpose of this strategy is to pull out the main ideas out of the passage and focus on the key details. An example of where this strategy could be found would be in a textbook. At the end of almost every chapter there is a short half-page summary that gives you the main ideas that was introduced within the chapter. Another example of summarizing in the real world would be if you read a story out loud to students and stop in the middle of the story and ask a student what has happened so far in the book. The student is summarizing it verbally to you and giving you an idea of what the student as learned thus far. A student could summarize a text both orally and visually.
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You can use a summary in the classroom to:
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Research
This strategy is truly about equipping your students to be lifelong learners. |
According to Jones (2012), “[When summarizing], We strip away the extra verbiage and extraneous examples. We focus on the heart of the matter. We try to find the key words and phrases that, when uttered later, still manage to capture the gist of what we've read. We are trying to capture the main ideas and the crucial details necessary for supporting them.” Jones (2012) also states, “This strategy is truly about equipping your students to be lifelong learners.” This is vital because your students will always use this strategy throughout their education, as well as, in life.
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Content Area Examples
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Video: Sample Book Report for Reading |
- Social Studies and Science
An example activity that could be used for summarizing in mathematics could be used when studying for a unit test. The student would look at all of the different topics covered on the unit text. Then the student could create notecards that list a summary of what is covered on the test or the describe using the main ideas and three important details (summary) to the teacher. This would help the student understand what would be important to study or practice for that might show up on the unit test.
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References
{FREE} Summary Graphic Organizers. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2015. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Primary-Polka-Dots
Gabrielle's Book Report for 3rd Grade. (n.d.). You Tube. Retrieved September 19, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCoRyrQiKyM
Jones, R. (2012, August 26). ReadingQuest Strategies | Summarizing. Retrieved September 16, 2015, from http://www.readingquest.org/strat/summarize.html
Summarizing. (2015). Reading Rockets. Retrieved September 17, 2015. http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/summarizing