6 Thinking Strategies Literacy Inservice March 2005 Determining Important Ideas 6 Thinking Strategies Literacy Inservice March 2005

SUMMARIZING IS TAKING LARGER SELECTIONS OF TEXT AND REDUCING THEM TO THEIR BARE ESSENTIALS: THE GIST KEY IDEAS MAIN POINTS THAT ARE WORTH NOTING AND REMEMBERING When we summarize, we strip away the extra wording and focus on the heart of the material.

When students SUMMARIZE they: pull out main ideas focus on key details use key words and phrases break down the larger ideas tell only enough to convey the gist

Proficient Readers… Identify key ideas or themes as they read Utilize text structure and text features (such as bold or italicized print, figures and photographs) to help them distinguish important from unimportant information Writers… Observe their world and record what they believe is significant Make decision about the best genre and structure to communicate their ideas Mathematicians… Evaluate and think critically about information Make decisions about the quality and usefulness of information Decide what is important to remember and what is not

Strategies for Summarizing: Save the Last Word Most Important Word “ Somebody Wanted But So ” 2 Column Chart: topic/details Text frames

Save the Last Word: After reading a text, students choose passages they like and copy each passage on a card. Then , on the reverse side of that card, they write why they liked that passage. Once students have completed this, they get into small groups. One at a time, they read the passages they selected. The other students comment on what they liked or didn’t like about each passage. Then, the student who wrote it on his card gets to have the last word as he reads his reason for choosing that passage

Most Important Word s s To encourage a lively debate, ask students to choose what they consider to be the most important word from the text they’ve just read. This strategy forces the students back into the text to consider what was the most important aspect of that text. When students have made their choices, make sure they can point to places in the text where the word is used and explain why they chose that word as important Steer them away from using a character’s name or word in the title If students choose “of” and “the”? Have them count ‘em! :)

“Somebody Wanted But So” Summarizing a short story or a novel appears to be too overwhelming for many students. SWBS offers students a framework as they create their summaries. Students read a story and then decide who the somebody is, what that somebody wanted, but what happened to keep something from happening, and so, finally, how everything works out. SWBS also moves students beyond summary writing- Somebody= deciding main characters Wanted= events of the plot- main ideas and details But= examining conflict So= looking at resolutions

2 Column Chart: Topic and Details The topic and detail form is effective in allowing for the students to list essential information. The third column can be added for connections or questions. Topic Detail Response

Text Frames The intent of the text frame is to help children develop independent comprehension skills. They can be used to help organize information in order to identify important ideas and learn to use text structure to support comprehension. Constructing the frames: Read the text, determine the focus. Sketch out a paragraph which focuses on the problem. Delete words, phrases, and sentences except those which are needed to sustain the purpose of the paragraph. Modify the frame to be used in a variety of situations.

When students highlight or mark text in nonfiction materials, they should keep the following guidelines in mind: Look carefully at the first and last line of each paragraph Highlight only necessary words and phrases Don’t get thrown off by interesting details Try not to highlight more than half of a paragraph Make notes in margins Cue words-followed by important information Nonfiction has many features that signal important information

6 Thinking Strategies Literacy Inservice March 2005 Determining Important Ideas 6 Thinking Strategies Literacy Inservice March 2005