4-2-1 Summarize
My action research project is based on the tool “4–2–1 Summarize.” My students were having trouble summarizing texts. They wanted to include every minute detail in their summaries, making them as long as the text itself. Summaries are important because they give a brief overview of the main points of a text. A summary’s purpose is to quickly give the reader an idea of what the reading is about. Summaries teach students how to identify the most important ideas in a text, how to ignore irrelevant information, and how to integrate the main ideas in a meaningful way. Teaching a student how to summarize can improve their memory for what is read. One type of summary that I introduced to my students was a sequence summary. A sequence summary follows the sequence of events laid out in a text. In this type of summary, students are guided through the beginning, middle, and end of the story with a series of prompts. My students didn’t like using this summary at all. Another type of summary that I used with my students was the 5 sentence summary. The 5 sentence summary works for fiction and nonfiction. Students begin with the topic or main idea, record three important details or facts, and finish with the wrap-up or resolution. My students again did not like this type of summary. They thought it was too hard. I used a couple more types of summary organizers, but the students’ favorite was the 4–2–1 Summarize. They expressed to me that this was the easiest for them to use. We did several summaries together with me guiding the students before I let them start doing them on their own. As a teacher, I am always trying to be better so that my students can mature and become active in not only learning, but also become active, prosperous members of society. I wanted to be a teacher because I love to see the light in my students’ eyes when a concept has been learned
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