Summarizing

Chapter 3
Classroom Instruction that Works
Marzano, Pickering and Pollock
 Summarizing and Notetaking
 Summarizing and note taking require that students distill
information into a concise, synthesized form and focus on
important points.
 Most research on summarizing strategies emphasizes the
importance of breaking down the process of summarizing into
a structure that can be easily understood by students.
 Verbatim note taking is the least effective note-taking
technique for improving student achievement because students
are not engaging their minds in generating or synthesizing
information.
 Students should be encouraged to revisit and revise their notes
after initial recording them. They should use different formats
and make notes as complete as possible.
 Summarizing and Note Taking
• Summarizing and note taking are in the
same category of instructional strategies
because both require students to distill
information into a concise, synthesized
form.
• Effective learners are able to sift through a
great deal of information, identify what is
important and then synthesize and restate
the information.
 Focus On

Summarizing
 Three Strategies for Teaching
Summarizing
1. Rule-Based Strategy
2. Using Frames
3. Reciprocal Teaching
• This presentation will cover in depth, the
first two strategies and will briefly touch
upon the third.
 Rule-Based Summarizing Strategy
The rules in the strategy are as follows:
1) Delete trivial material that is unnecessary to understanding;
2) Delete redundant material;
3) Substitute subordinate terms for lists (e.g., “flowers for
“daisies, tulips, and roses”);
4) Select a topic sentence, or invent one if it is missing.
To make these rules “come alive” for students, a teacher might
initially demonstrate them in some detail.
Brown, Campione, and Day (1981)
 Summarizing Strategy
Using Frames
Present students with summary frames. Using
summary frames is a powerful summarizing
strategy that teachers can effectively use to
enhance students’ understanding.
A summary frame is a series of questions that the
teacher provides to students that helps them
develop an accurate summary of the text.
For more on frames, see: Oja (1996) Using Story
Frames to Develop Reading Comprehension in the
Classroom ED 395 281
 Summarizing Strategy: Using Frames
There are different types of frames that students can use to help them
summarize different types of text that they encounter.
The Narrative Frame: to summarize stories or other narratives;
The Topic-Restriction-Illustration (T-R-l) Frame: to summarize
informational or explanatory text;
The Definition Frame: to summarize text that defines a concept or term;
The Argumentation Frame: to summarize text that presents an
argument;
The Problem /Solution Frame: to summarize text that presents a
problem and one or more solutions;
The Conversation Frame: to summarize text that presents a
conversation between people or characters in a story.
 Narrative or Story Frame
The narrative or story frame commonly contains the following
elements:
1. Characters: the characteristics of the main characters in the story;
2. Setting: the time, place, and context in which the story took place;
3. Initiating event: the event that starts the action rolling in the story;
4. Internal response: how the main characters feel about and react to
the initiating event;
5. Goal: what the main characters decide to do as a reaction to the
initiating event — the goal they set;
6. Consequence: how the main characters try to accomplish the goal;
7. Resolution: how the story turns out.
8. (Components 3-7 are sometimes repeated to create what is called
an “episode.”)
Narrative or Story Frame
Frame Questions:
1. Who are the main characters? What makes them different from
others?
2. When and where did the story take place? What was the situation at
the time?
3. What starts the action rolling in the story?
4. How did the characters express their feelings?
5. What did the main characters decide to do? Did they set a goal?
What was it?
6. How did the main characters try to accomplish their goal?
7. How does the story turn out? Did the main characters accomplish
their goal?
Example
Narrative
Frame
(handout)
 T-R-I Frame for Expository Material
Students can use the T-R-I Frame with most expository
material, such as books and other nonfiction reading
material. The T-R-l pattern is commonly found in expository
material. The elements of the T-R-l frame are:
Topic (T): a general statement about the
information to be discussed;
Restriction (R): statements that limit the information in
some way;
Illustration (I): statements that exemplify the topic
or illustrations.
The T-R-I (topic, restriction, illustration) pattern can have a
number of restrictions and accompanying illustrations.
 T-R-I Frame
Frame Questions:
T: What is the general topic?
R: What information does the author give
that narrows or restricts the general
topic?
I: What examples does the author present
to illustrate the topic or restriction?
Example
T-R-I
Frame
(handout)
 Definition Frame
The purpose of a definition pattern is to describe a particular
concept and identify subordinate concepts.Definition
patterns contain the following elements:
1.Term: the subject to be defined (e.g., car);
2. Set: the general category to which the term belongs (e.g.,
vehicles for transportation);
3. Gross (general) characteristics: those characteristics that
separate the term from other elements in the set (e.g., runs
on the ground, has four wheels);
4. Minute differences: those different classes of objects that
fall directly beneath the term (e.g., sedans, convertibles).
 Definition Frame
Frame Questions:
1. What is being defined here?
2. To what general category does the item being defined
belong?
3. What characteristics of the item being defined separate
it from other items in the general category?
4. What are some different types or classes of the item
being defined?
 Example
Definition
Frame
(handout)