Methods for Summarizing Texts Effective Strategies The Benefits

Methods for Summarizing Texts Effective Strategies

The Benefits of Summarizing • Summarizing the information presented in a textbook or novel reinforces and consolidates the processes involved in learning that information. • These processes include separating important from unimportant information, recognizing the structure of the text, and drawing inferences.

Strategies for Summarizing • Hierarchical Summaries • R. E. A. P. • G. I. S. T.

Hierarchical Summaries • Preview the text, giving special attention to headings, subheadings, bolded or italicized vocabulary, etc. • Develop a skeletal outline. • Read the text and use the outline as a guide. • Generate main ideas for each main point in the outline and then include supporting detail. • Generate a summarizing statement for the entire passage.

R. E. A. P. • This is an acronym for the four stages of reading and understanding: Read the text; Encode the text in your own language; Annotate the text by writing down the message conveyed in the text; Ponder the message on your own or with others.

G. I. S. T. : Generating Interactions between Schemata and Text • First, restate the first sentence of a paragraph in 15 words or less. • Then, summarize sentences one and two in 15 words or less. • Continue until the entire paragraph has been summarized in 15 words or less.

Source Alvermann, Donna E. , and Stephen F. Phelps. Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classrooms. 2 nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998.