Summary Frames
An Introduction
The following summary frames come from the book Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, by Robert Marzano. These frames were constructed to help students retain and comprehend material through learning to effectively summarize text by 1) Deleting trivial material that is unnecessary to understanding. 2) Deleting redundant material. 3) Substitute superordinate terms for lists (e.g., “flowers” for “daisies, tulips, and roses”). 4) Select a topic sentence, or invent one if it is missing.
Summarizing Strategy: Sample Passage
Summarizing to Comprehend – R. Marzano
As the most cherished skill in the world of language arts, comprehension is also crucial to understanding texts in every other subject area. Although the process of comprehension is complex, at its core, comprehension is based on summarizing—restating content in a succinct manner that highlights the most crucial information. During the mid-1970s and early 1980s, the work of cognitive psychologists (see Kintsch, 1974; van Dijk, 1980; van Dijk & Kintsch, 1983) made this clear. In a series of studies with teachers, we determined that summarizing strategies have a substantial average effect on student understanding of academic content. Across 17 experimental/control studies that teachers conducted, we found that using summarizing strategies, on average, increased students’ understanding of content by 19 percentile points (see Haystead & Marzano, 2009).Summarizing Strategies That Work
As with all instructional strategies, however, we found that some approaches to summarizing are
more effective than others. Five strategies appear to influence students’ ability to comprehend text.
Strategy #1: Clarify what’s important.
Summarizing strategies that do not emphasize text structure have the least powerful effect. Some summarizing strategies simply ask students to sort content into information that is either important or extraneous. The problem with this approach is that it provides no guidance as to how students might differentiate important from unimportant information. To be effective, a summarizing strategy should help students discern the inherent structures in a text. For example, a story has a structure: There are main characters; there is rising and falling action; there are events that take place in certain locations, and so on. If students are aware that these elements are important aspects of stories, they are more likely to identify them and, consequently, more likely to comprehend the stories they read.
Strategy #2: Familiarize students with multiple text structures.
The story structure is familiar to students because they experience stories early on in their lives and because teachers typically teach story structures as a regular part of language arts instruction. Throughout their schooling, however, students will encounter many other kinds of text structures that are more expository in nature. Unless students recognize these structures, they may be less successful at comprehending the expository content in their textbooks and related readings.
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Summary Frames
By Robert Marzano
The Argumentation Frame
Argumentation frames contain information designed to support a claim. They contain the following elements:
1. Evidence: information that leads to a claim.
2. Claim: the assertion that something is true-the claim that is the focal point of the argument.
3. Support: examples of or explanations for the claim.
4. Qualifier: a restriction on the claim or evidence for the claim.
1. What information is presented that leads to a claim?2. What is the basic statement or claim that is the focus of the information?
3. What examples or explanations are presented to support this claim?
4. What concessions are made about the claim?
The Topic-Restriction-Illustration Frame
T-R-I stands for topic, restriction, and illustration. This pattern is commonly found in expository material. The T-R-I frame contains the following elements:
Topic-T-general statement about the topic to be discussed.
Restriction-R-limits the information in some way.
Illustrations I-exemplifies the topic or restriction
T-What is the general statement or topic?R-What information narrows or restricts the general statement or topic?
I- What examples illustrate the topic or restriction?
The Problem/Solution Frame
Problem/Solution Frames introduce a problem and then identify one or more solutions to the problem.
Problem: A statement of something that has happened or might happen that is problematic.
Solution: A description of one possible solution.
Solution: A statement of another possible solution.
Solution: A statement of another possible solution.
Solution: Identification of the solution with the greatest chance of success.
1. What is the problem?2. What is a possible solution?
3. What is another possible solution?
4. Which solution has the best chance of succeeding?
The Definition Frame
The purpose of a definition frame is to describe a particular concept and identify subordinate concepts. Definition patterns contain the following elements:
1. Term-the subject to be defined.
2. Set-the general category to which the term belongs.
3. Gross characteristics-those characteristics that separate the term from other elements in the set.
1. What is being defined?2. To which general category does the item belong?
3. What characteristics separate the item from other things in the general category?
4. What are some different types or classes of the item being defined?
4. Minute differences-those different classes of objects that fall directly beneath the term.
Narrative Frame
The narrative frame or story frame is commonly found in fiction and 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 information took place.
3. Initiating Event: the event that starts the action rolling in the story.
4. Internal Response: how the main characters react emotionally to the initiating event.
5. Goal: what the main characters decide to do as a reaction to the initiating event.
6. Consequence: how the main characters try to accomplish the goal.
7. Resolution: how the goal turns out.
The Narrative Frame-Asks yourself these questions when reading a narrative piece.1. Who are the main characters and what distinguishes them from others?
2. When and where did the story take place? What were the circumstances?
3. What prompted the action 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, and, if so, what was it?
6. How did the main characters try to accomplish their goal(s)?
7. What were the consequences?
The Conversation Frame
A conversation is a verbal interchange between two or more people. A conversation generally has the following components.
1. Greeting: some acknowledgement that the parties have not seen each other for awhile
2. Inquiry: a question about a general or specific topic
3. Discussion: an elaboration or analysis of the topic. Commonly included in the discussion are one or more of the following:
Assertions: statements of facts by the speaker
Requests: statements that solicit actions from the listener
Promises: statements that assert the speaker will perform certain actions
Demands: statements that identify specific actions to be taken by the listener
Threats: statements that specify consequences to the listener if commands are not followed
Congratulations: statements that indicate the value the speaker puts on something done by the listener
4. Conclusion: the conversation ends in some way
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Reciprocal Teaching
Summarizing After students have silently or orally read a passage, a single student acting as a teacher summarizes what has been read. Other students with guidance from the teacher, may add to the summary. If students have difficulty summarizing, the teacher might point out clues (important items or obvious topic sentences) that aid in the construction of good summaries.
Questioning – The student leader asks some questions to which the class responds. The questions are designed to help students identify important information in the passage. For example, the leader might look back over the selection and ask questions about specific pieces of information. The other students then try to answer questions based on their recollection of the information.
Classifying – Next, the student leader tries to clarify confusing points in the passage. He might point these out or ask other students to point them out. The leader might say, “The part about why the dog ran was confusing to me. Can you explain this?” The leader may ask other students to ask clarifying questions. The group attempts to clear up confusing parts. This may involve rereading parts of the passage.
Predicting – The leader asks for predictions about what will happen next in the segment of the text. The leader writes the predictions and the students copy them. -contributed by Jessica Foster, LTCY 524