Summarizing Techniques

Dear Sam,

I am glad that you chose to be a part of our great faculty. I must begin by saying that your willingness to ask questions and gain feedback about how to help our students shows traits of a good teacher. Please always feel free to ask any burning questions because I am here to help. We both have the same goal in mind, and that goal is student achievement.

First of all, summarization is a very important reading skill. It can also be difficult for some students. However, there are a plethora of strategies that can be used to help students become proficient with the skill. The strategies can be used with fiction and nonfiction genres.

The first and most important thing to do is give the students a purpose for their reading. If they know why the are reading something, it will be easier for them to determine what is important about the text. An example of a purpose to read could be to tell why a character was motivated to do something in a novel or tell the events that led to a particular battle in the Civil War.

Once their purpose has been established, they should underline or highlight words or sentences that specifically point out the main points of the text. They can use those words and sentences to form their own sentences and eventually form a summary of the text read.

Also, the students can complete exit slips or tickets out. With this, the students are asked to tell what they gained from the lesson or reading for that day. This is excellent because they are reflecting on what they learned. Before class begins, let the students know that they will be expected to complete the exit slip or ticket out. That will make them pay more attention so that they will be able to complete the task.

Using the 5 W's (who, what, when, where, and why) are very helpful. This helps the students stay focused on what is important about a topic. This really helps because it prevents them from using extraneous information.

Letting the students create different presentations based on their learning styles is also a great way to get students to summarize what they learned. They could create skits, write songs or poems, do an advertisement or jingle, give a speech, or whatever they may come up with. The creativity added to a lesson brings out good work in many students.

Lastly, end the class with an oral reflection. Let the students be in charge of it. Choose about three to four students who you think really grasped the concepts of the lesson or reading and let them tell about it to the class. Often times, students learn more from other students. Also, hearing other students' perspectives will add more knowledge for a student who can't recall much from the lesson.

Basically, there are many ways to use summarization in your classroom. Get to know your students and see what keeps them engaged. Give them an opportunity to make choices and decisions about how they will summarize. Remember, your overall goal is student achievement through meeting and exceeding the standards. It doesn't matter what strategy they use, as long as they reach the goal.

I hope this has helped. If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Have a great day.

Your mentor,

Taliah Hassan