MAKING CONNECTIONSCLARIFYING IDEAS

SUMMARIZING IDEAS

MRS. ATKINSONENGLISH 101

Critical Reading Exercise:Writing in the Margins

Number Paragraphs

Before reading, please pencil in the paragraphs numbers for this article.

The magic number is 11.As you read the article, “Clean Air or Clean

Hair?” by Glenn Hurowitz consider the following question: How large is your carbon footprint? It may also be important to note that Glenn Hurowitz

writes about the environment for Grist Magazine and is the author of the book "Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party."

Making Connections

What do I know about this subject?What is my expertise with the topic/idea?What do I believe?Where have I heard or read this idea before?How does this idea relate to other ideas in

the text?How does this related to the world?

Clarifying Ideas

When clarifying the text, the reader shouldReread sections of the textDefine key terms in the textMake connections among ideas in the textAnalyze the decisions the author is makingAsk questions like, “What does this mean?” or

“Why is this important?”Analyze and evaluate ideas in the textParaphrase or summarize ideas in the text.

Summarizing Ideas

Chunk the text into manageable sections.Summaries should contain the following:

A statement concerning what the paragraph(s) is/are about

A description of what the author is doing An account for key terms and/or ideas

Sample summary for paragraphs one and two: Glenn Hurowitz is an environmental journalist who

researches the damaging effects of palm oil.

ReflectionPost to Edmodo. Respond to two classmates.

How did these strategy improve your comprehension?

Why would readers want to use these strategies?

Could you use this strategy in other classes?Would you recommend any of these

strategies to fellow students who were struggling with their reading?