GIST - SUMMARIESWriting to Learn in all content areas

Summaries Require Paying Attention

Accuracy is Essential

Most Summaries Fall into Two Categories

• Too Much Information

• Students list every piece of information they read in the text.

• Too Little Information

• Students write one sentence to summarize an entire chapter of a text.

What is GIST?

A Type of Summary

•Students work together•Students discuss each portion of text•Students summarize progressively larger portions of texts into 25-word statements

GIST Summaries Require Critical Thinking

Students continually revise their summaries to incorporate new information: deleting less important information, and adding new ideas.

Research Base

Summarization:

One of the most effective strategies to improve student writing (effect size 0.82) and reading

GIST - Summary1. Form groups of 4.2. Distribute a copy of a text (“Dementia Risk Seen in

Players in N.F.L. Study” for today) to each group.3. In groups, read the 1st paragraph, and summarize it in

25 words or fewer. 4. Read the 2nd paragraph, and revise the first summary

to create a 25-word summary of the first TWO paragraphs.

5. Read the 3rd paragraph, and revise the summary to create a 25-word summary of the first THREE paragraphs.

6. Continue in this manner until you have a 25-word summary of the entire article.

General Procedure

1. Choose a text for students to read

2. Group students in groups of 3-5

3. Give students 2-4 minutes for each summary; may need more time for later summaries or if text is longer (a chapter, for example)

4. Give small groups time to discuss their summaries

5. Move to whole class discussion if desired – compare summaries

GIST - Texts• Chapters of textbooks• Novels• Experimental observations• News/magazine articles• Websites/documents• Historical documents• Video (stop every 5 minutes)• Lecture (teacher will need to

structure presentation to fit the strategy)

Flexibility

GIST can be used

•Before a class discussion• To introduce a topic• To help students read more critically

•During/After a class discussion• To present another viewpoint on a topic

Can be used to summarize reading:

Can be used to summarize a video:

Can be used to summarize the observations for a lab:

Variations• Have students summarize a documentary, stopping every

5-7 minutes to revise their summaries.

• One-sentence summary for each paragraph, with no revisions.

• “Twitter” summaries – 140 characters each• Upgrade to 140 words

What Can Go Wrong?

Unbalanced groups – One person does the work.1.Option 1: Rotate who writes the summary for the group after each rotation.2.Option 2: Have each person in group write his/her summary before choosing one for the group.

Assessment

• Give participation points

• Have groups share their final summaries to assess understanding (don’t worry about grammar, spelling, etc.)

Assessment

• Use as a formative assessment• What do students understand?• Where is there a disconnect?• What do I need to clarify?

Your turn

Create a list of four specific situations in which the GIST strategy would work in your classroom. Choose at least one from your first month’s curriculum.

Share with neighbors/group.