Top Ten
Summarizing Ideas:
Solidifying the
Learning
Ashley Kirby
Who’s in a
HOT SEAT?
Why bother?
• Summarizing is a life skill
• Based on the Primacy-Recency Effect: the
brain remembers best what it learns first
and last
• Based on research by Robert Marzano:
summarizing strategies assist students in
retaining information and making
connections to prior knowledge
Strategies that Most Impact
Student Achievement
Category
Rank Percentile Gain
Identifying Similarities & Differences
1
45
Summarizing & Note-taking
2
34
Reinforcing & Recognizing Effort
3
29
Homework & Practice
4
28
Nonlinguistic Representations
5
27
~based on Robert Marzano
What do you need to know?
• Requires students to answer the essential
question
• Seems straightforward but is actually
complex
• Involves a skilled inclusion and exclusion
of ideas
• Depends on numerous mental processes
• Students can’t “fake it”
1. Password
•
•
•
•
•
Pair up with a partner.
Decide who is a 1 and who is a 2.
1’s turn away from the screen.
2’s turn to face the screen and your partner.
A series of pictures or terms are revealed. 2’s start
at the bottom left and go across giving clues to
your partner. When your partner guesses
correctly, start the next series of clues.
• Follow the arrows until you and your partner
reach the top of the pyramid.
K – Community Helpers
4th – Newton’s Laws
Force
Newton’s
1st Law
Position
Newton’s
2nd Law
Motion
Direction
2. Tic-Tac-Know
• Using this board, explain to your
table or a partner how 3 of the
pictures or terms relate or
connect - in a row either up,
down, across, or diagonal
• Can have students discuss or
write
1st – Symbols of Our Country
4th – Informational Text
Fact
Caption
Main Idea
Glossary
Topic
Sentence
Supporting
Detail
Chronological
Order
Cause and
Effect
Supporting
Idea
3. Collaborative Sort Cards
• Students have the chance to classify topics,
words, and phrases into categories
• Process of sorting and classifying
strengthens the student's ability to
comprehend and retain difficult
information
• Through a discussion of possible solutions,
students negotiate the contextual meaning
of the topics, words, or phrases
Examples
• K math: sort shapes, can have
pictures on cards or actual objects to
sort
• 3rd grade science: sort examples of
heat production (electrical,
mechanical, friction)
• 5th grade math: sort equivalent
fractions
4. Q-Matrix
• A collection of 36 question prompts based
on the levels of Bloom’s created by Chuck
W. Wiederhold
• Students create and process higher level
questions based on current content
• Questions can be manipulated into
different formats:
• Tic-Tac-Toe
• Dice
• Strips
5. Shaping Up Review
• “The Heart” – students write one thing that they
loved learning about in the lesson
• “The Square” – students write four things that
they feel are important concepts from the lesson
being reviewed; one concept in each corner
• “The Triangle” – students write the three most
important facts they learned from lesson being
reviewed; one fact in each corner.
• “The Circle” – students write one, allencompassing (global- like the circle) statement
that summarizes all of the important concepts
and facts learned in the lesson being reviewed
6. Exit Tickets
• Also known as “Ticket Out the
Door”
• Good to use at times of
transition (lunch, specials, end of
the day)
7. Visual Prompts
• Teacher provides students with a
picture along with a prompt:
• a magazine photo, an illustration, a slide,
transparency, snapshot, etc.
• Students respond to it in writing or in
a classroom discussion using one of
the following formats:
• narrative, descriptive, persuasive, or
expository
2nd – Motion and Celestial
Bodies
• Explain why the
moon looks
different over
time.
8. Mystery Box
• Teacher displays a box with a variety of
objects or vocabulary cards inside
relating to the content.
• Teacher selects students to draw an
object or card from the bag, one by one.
• Students discuss orally or in writing
what they know about each item as it
relates to the content.
9. Letter Bag
• Select students to choose a letter
from the bag.
• Each student shares a word that
begins with his letter and that
summarizes the lesson’s content.
Topic: St. Patrick’s Day
Hot Seat
• Before the beginning of class, the teacher prepares
4-5 questions related to the topic of study and
writes them on sticky notes.
• Place the sticky notes underneath student desks so
they are hidden from view.
• At beginning of class, inform students that several
of them are sitting in “Hot Seats” and will be
asked to answer the questions.
• Have the students check their desks for the
strategically placed sticky notes.
• Students who are in the “Hot Seats” take turns
answering the questions.