Teaching Summarizing and Note Taking1

Teaching Summarizing and Note Taking

Emily Hallett
EDU-600 Teacher as a Leader
University of New England

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I think it is helpful for students to be taught how to summarize. When students are
reading a lot of information it is easier to condense the concepts into something smaller,
and to focus on the key points or ideas. The strategies of summarizing and note taking
facilitate learning by providing opportunities for students to capture, organize, and reflect
on important facts, concepts, ideas, and processes they will need to access at a later time
(Piolat, Olive, & Kellogg, 2005) (Dean, Hubbell, Pitler & Stone, 2012 p 78). Once they
have the key points it is easier to remember what the big picture is. If a student has never
been taught how to summarize it can be difficult to try it. I think note-taking should be
taught early in the correct way.
I also feel it is difficult for younger students to learn the concept of note taking.
For example, at the moment we are learning about stretching out their story in our Writers
Workshop lessons. The students are having a difficult time adding details that we are
encouraging. If we were to introduce note taking and summarizing to them, I feel they
will become extremely confused. Not only are we trying to make them add more details
in their writing, now we would be asking them to forget about details and just give us the
main idea. This would counter-act the intention of Writers Workshop. I may introduce
note taking later in the year after the students have grasped the concept we are teaching
them in Writers Workshop. I would most likely introduce summary frames. This way the
students can have a purpose for the activity. It is difficult to have second graders do an
activity that is open ended because it is overwhelming for them.
I feel that summary frames are unique. I have never encountered them until
reading this book. I may have used some form of summary frames when I was in school
but was unaware that they were called summary frames. I feel that the frames are a great

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method to help students if teachers have a specific focus they want the students to
remember. I also feel that this would be a great way to introduce note taking to younger
students. I feel the Narrative Frame would be the best frame to introduce first. In second
grade, we read more stories than do research. If the students have a specific focus with
what they are looking for they will have a better ability to succeed. In our class when we
read a non-fiction text we help the students realize that there are headings. We tell them
that a heading can help them understand what is going to be talked about in each section.
That it is a great skill to use when they get older. This starts to teach the students about
summarizing.
I feel the rule based summarizing strategy is the way that I learned. I feel that it is
very helpful when reading a news article or researching for a paper. This form of learning
of how to take notes helped me understand what is important and what was not important
when I was note taking. Effective note taking requires students to determine what is
important and then state that information in condensed form (Dean, Hubbell, Pitler &
Stone, 2012 p 90). I feel that the rule-based strategy helps me decide what is important
for all types of topics. It is very useful. In my opinion, it is simple to take out the details
that are not important, words that are repeated, and create key words to help them
remember the ideas. Rule based strategy; I feel is the most efficient method to use for a
note taking strategy.
Reciprocal teaching I believe works best at the middle and high school levels. The
students have had enough experiences through their education with note-taking and
summarizing that they will be able to take the role of teaching others and feel

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comfortable doing so. My second graders are just learning how to predict and use a
dictionary so I would be against teaching this strategy.
Today the world has so much information streaming through it day in and day
out; it is difficult to process anything. Students may come across information that is
overwhelming. If the students are taught to summarize an article without having to read
the entire thing it can help them tremendously. In todays world there is an abundance of
rapidly evolving information, and students will benefit throughout their lives from
knowing how to summarize information and take notes Dean et al (2012, p 98). I believe
that all methods should be taught at appropriate moments in the education timeline. Just
as every student learns differently, every student will take notes different. What I think
works best because I enjoy it however; does not mean it will work well for my colleague.
We are all different learners.

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References
Dean, C. B. (2012). Classroom Instruction that Works: research-based strategies for
increasing student achievement (2nd ed., p. xx). Denver, CO: McRel.