Text Markings
Paul Quine
and Janet Rauch were teaching their students how to summarize with a technique
called “Text Marking”. Students were given a passage and were asked to chunk
information from each paragraph underlining key terms using the basic signal
words to guide them; who, what, where, when, and why. They then put the
information into their own words. By marking up the text and writing their key
thoughts, students were able to understand what they were reading. They did this throughout the text. Students
put their thoughts down for each section. If students were at a standstill,
they would back up and process and read the work to that point. This technique
helped to jumpstart their thinking. If students had trouble formulating what to
write, they would act out parts of the reading. Visualizing the text, helped
the students comprehend what was happening in the story.