WHAT WAS IMPLEMENTED?
It was noted that my students struggled with determining the main idea of a text. For this reason, various summarizing strategies were implemented in hopes that these strategies would increase my students' ability in identifying the main idea of a complex text. The first summarizing strategy that was implemented was called a GIST summary. This stands for “Generating Interactions Between Schemata and Text.” The purpose of this strategy was to measure comprehension by having students write a summary that was 20 words or less. This activity required them to make meaning out of the text by having to paraphrase. The second strategy was called “Somebody Wanted But So Then.” In this strategy students answered each of the parts to create their summary. This helped them break down the details of a text in order to create a more robust summary. Both of these strategies allowed students to make their learning visible by summing up what was read. Summarizing was important because it required students to spend more time with a text so that they could better comprehend what they were reading. From this, they were then able to more consistently identify the main idea. Vertical Divider
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HOW WAS IT IMPLEMENTED?
Over the course of 7 weeks, we read Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. While reading through the 5 acts, students practiced summarizing as a daily exit ticket. These were completed daily because the exit tickets allowed me to see how students were understanding the reading after each class session. Then at the end of each week, students completed a main idea formative. By giving them a formative assessment, I was able to make quick instructional decisions in order to improve student learning. This formative measured how they were progressing through being able to identify the main idea of a complex text. |
WHY WERE THESE STRATEGIES CHOSEN?
Using summarizing in order to improve students’ ability to identify main ideas is a practice that is backed by research. Additionally, summarizing is a good way to get a sense of where students are with their comprehension. For example, a student who did not understand what was being read would not be able to provide an effective summary. Once students realized the expectation that comes with summarizing, they paid more attention to the details of the text and they were able to show that they understood the reading. The “Somebody Wanted But So Then” strategy was chosen because it does exactly that. Answering those five parts required students to look at those details more closely. The GIST strategy steps away from having students fill in specific parts. Instead, it required them to differentiate between important and not important information. Since their summaries had to be 20 words or less they had to be sure that they were only including relevant information. Once they understood what was being read and what the important parts were, they then moved on to being able to identify the main idea.
Using summarizing in order to improve students’ ability to identify main ideas is a practice that is backed by research. Additionally, summarizing is a good way to get a sense of where students are with their comprehension. For example, a student who did not understand what was being read would not be able to provide an effective summary. Once students realized the expectation that comes with summarizing, they paid more attention to the details of the text and they were able to show that they understood the reading. The “Somebody Wanted But So Then” strategy was chosen because it does exactly that. Answering those five parts required students to look at those details more closely. The GIST strategy steps away from having students fill in specific parts. Instead, it required them to differentiate between important and not important information. Since their summaries had to be 20 words or less they had to be sure that they were only including relevant information. Once they understood what was being read and what the important parts were, they then moved on to being able to identify the main idea.
WHY WERE THESE STRATEGIES BEST FOR MY STUDENTS?
After analyzing MAP data it was apparent that my students struggled the most with the theme and analysis portion of the test. A subcategory of this portion is determining the main idea. For this reason, I was worried about how they would do with reading Shakespeare, since it is such a complex text. I chose to incorporate these specific summarizing strategies because they allowed students to work through the complex language by practicing paraphrasing. Additionally, these two strategies required students to sift through the information in order to determine what the most important parts of the reading were. These strategies were the best choice for my student population because so many of them were English learners. Providing as much support for them when it comes to reading and writing was important for their success.
After analyzing MAP data it was apparent that my students struggled the most with the theme and analysis portion of the test. A subcategory of this portion is determining the main idea. For this reason, I was worried about how they would do with reading Shakespeare, since it is such a complex text. I chose to incorporate these specific summarizing strategies because they allowed students to work through the complex language by practicing paraphrasing. Additionally, these two strategies required students to sift through the information in order to determine what the most important parts of the reading were. These strategies were the best choice for my student population because so many of them were English learners. Providing as much support for them when it comes to reading and writing was important for their success.
FOSTERING DIVERSE LEARNING NEEDS
After looking at the students’ summaries and the pretest, I was able to determine which students needed accommodations. These accommodations included providing students with an alternative option for how to create summaries, a summary graphic organizer, giving students more time to write a summary if necessary, providing one-on-one instruction, Romeo and Juliet read alouds, a parallel text (modern translation), and verbal sentence starters. My special education co-teacher and I worked together to determine who needed accommodations and how we could meet their needs through these modes. This plan was to ensure that all of the students had the opportunity to succeed. These accommodations were not only for the students that had an Individualized Education Program, but were also an option for all students if it was clear that they needed some extra assistance.
After looking at the students’ summaries and the pretest, I was able to determine which students needed accommodations. These accommodations included providing students with an alternative option for how to create summaries, a summary graphic organizer, giving students more time to write a summary if necessary, providing one-on-one instruction, Romeo and Juliet read alouds, a parallel text (modern translation), and verbal sentence starters. My special education co-teacher and I worked together to determine who needed accommodations and how we could meet their needs through these modes. This plan was to ensure that all of the students had the opportunity to succeed. These accommodations were not only for the students that had an Individualized Education Program, but were also an option for all students if it was clear that they needed some extra assistance.
CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING
I fostered an equitable and accessible learning environment by providing the mentioned accommodations for students with Individualized Education Programs, English Learners, and for the students who needed additional support as identified through the exit tickets. Furthermore, I included multiple perspectives through the teaching of Romeo and Juliet. This was important so that students could relate to and see themselves in the literature that we read. The ideas that are represented in Romeo and Juliet are often found in other literary works, songs, movies, etc. Students had the chance to explore different adaptations of the play during the unit. For example, we looked at West Side Story, which is a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. We looked at this so that students were able to see a different version and understand that different people have different perspectives.
I fostered an equitable and accessible learning environment by providing the mentioned accommodations for students with Individualized Education Programs, English Learners, and for the students who needed additional support as identified through the exit tickets. Furthermore, I included multiple perspectives through the teaching of Romeo and Juliet. This was important so that students could relate to and see themselves in the literature that we read. The ideas that are represented in Romeo and Juliet are often found in other literary works, songs, movies, etc. Students had the chance to explore different adaptations of the play during the unit. For example, we looked at West Side Story, which is a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. We looked at this so that students were able to see a different version and understand that different people have different perspectives.
COLLABORATION