Step 5 1-2-3 Look Away!

Background Finding information on the Internet can be difficult, but for others it is trying to summarize that is the hardest of all. Even though summarizing is hard, it is important. We need to be able to the decide what is important information from the rest. Let’s find out how.

Objective By the end of this lesson you will know: How the strategy “1-2-3 Look Away” is effective in summarizing web sites. The importance of reading for meaning and understanding. That the notes you write can then be used as a study or memory aid.

Lesson Now that you have a helpful web site, it is time to write down what you have found out. Using the strategy ‘1-2-3 Look Away’ you will be able to summarize the information easily, using your own words. Start by taking a piece of paper. At the top, write the title of the web page and today’s date.

This is the 1-2-3 in the strategy ‘1-2-3 Look Away!’ 2) Then read 3 sentences from the web site. This is the 1-2-3 in the strategy ‘1-2-3 Look Away!’

Think about what you just read, and ask yourself what stood out as important ? Look away from the screen, to your paper and jot down the main idea of what you just read. Write it down as a quick jot note. Be sure to keep it simple, and use your own words when summarizing what you just read.

Here are the steps again: Take a piece of paper 1-2-3 read 3 sentences Look away from the web site Ask yourself what the MOST important thing you just read. Jot it down onto your paper.

As you use this strategy more and more, you will find it faster and easier to summarize the main points as you read information. With practice you can can go from reading only 3 sentences, then summarizing to reading a paragraph then summarizing. With time you might even be able to read a whole page, then summarize the main ideas.

The idea behind this strategy is that we must be smart about how we use our time, energy and resources.

Printing off the information would be wasteful, as we would still have to summarize the web page and find out the important points. Most times people print off something , they forget and don’t refer back to the paper again.

Let’s Review Be smart, use your time wisely. Read the web site a few sentences at a time (3). Then jot down the MAIN idea as notes. The notes you create will act as a reminder of what you read. They can also serve as a study guide about your topic.