In order to effectively summarize, students need to decide what information needs to be deleted or substituted and what information to keep.  To do this they need to choose which parts of what they read are important, trivial and repetitive.  Students need to be able to synthesize material, prioritize pieces of data, restate some information and organize some concepts, topics and details.  As students practice these strategies, it enhances their ability to understand specific content for learning.

Marzano's recommendations for classroom practice include:

• teaching students the rule-based summarizing strategy

• using summary frames

• teaching students a variety of note-taking formats (informal outline, web, combination notes)

• giving students teacher prepared notes

• reminding students to review their notes

Technology Integration:

• Interactive Notebooks - use Notebook software and a Smartboard to circle, highlight, cloud and underline text and draw illustrations

• Rule based summary- steps for students to use to decide which information to delete or substitute and which to keep  (rules)  (sample)

• Summary Frames- a series of questions that the teacher provides to students to highlight the critical elements for specific types of information (questions taken from Classroom Instruction That Works, Marzano, p. 35-41)
  • The Narrative Frame
  • The Topic-Restriction-Illustration Frame
  • The Definition Frame
  • The Argumentation Frame
  • The Problem/Solution Frame
  • The Conversation Frame

• Formatting tools- use Word tools such as underlining, bold, font color, highlighting, bulleted lists, outlining, etc.  (sample)

• Retelling- use editing tools during a retelling of a story

• Beginning/Middle/End- write a sentence and illustrate

• Summarizing a paragraph, topic, chapter, short story by illustrating and writing a sentence(s)

• Class Book
  • each student/group illustrates a different part/chapter/step (example- events in the life of a famous American)
  • export as a JPEG picture file and use to create a slide show

• Video clip- click to watch a video clip and create a web of notes

• Sequencing events

• Word Analysis sorts

• Note-Taking - informal outlines and webbing

• 5 Ws- create a web to tell who, what, when, where, why and how to recall a story

• Interactive Notebooks
  • type notes into PowerPoint
  • in Slide Show view, use Pointer Options to highlight, circle, underline, draw illustrations, etc.  (blank sample)  (completed sample)

created by Sherri Miller, ITRT, Gloucester County Public Schools
VSTE Conference ~ February, 2008