Scaffolding instruction and using graphic organizers for writing effective in-class summaries

Research Question(s). To what extent do teaching students different summarizing strategies using graphic organizers and scaffolds and giving students practice with in-class writing influence students' ability to organize and write an effective summary in a timed, in-class setting? To what extent will teaching students to outline effective summaries using graphic organizers lead to students' eventually being able to create effective outlines for summaries on their own?;Research Activities. This study examined the effects of (1) teaching students to summarize using graphic organizers and scaffolds and (2) giving students practice with in-class summary writing. Context. This study was conducted in a ninth-grade SDAIE English class that consisted of 11 students, of which 8 were boys and 3 were girls. The students came from a variety of backgrounds, but all of the students were non-native English speakers. Instructional Approach. The intervention consisted of three weeks of carefully designed lessons that included a variety of graphic organizers, scaffolds, and modeling. During the first week of the intervention, the lessons focused on activating background knowledge, introducing types and formats of summary writing, and examining the rubric and models. The goal was to teach students to effectively produce summaries based on seven specific rubric criteria for summary writing. The summaries were scored on a four-point scale in each of the seven categories on the rubric, which were (1) Introduction; (2) Details and Facts; (3) Neutrality; (4) Paraphrasing; (5) Voice; (6) Point of View; and (7) Conclusion. The lessons during the second week of the intervention focused on deciphering the main points of a text and organizing those points using graphic organizers, as well as on in-class practice of summary writing. Over the course of the third week of the intervention, the lessons focused on avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing, and putting new skills into practice. Data Gathering. Both prior to the intervention and after the intervention, data were collected in the form of in-class summaries and surveys that students filled out about their perceived difficulty with various aspects of summary writing; in addition, students wrote mid-intervention paragraph summaries. Time-sampling observational data about student behaviors were gathered while students wrote both baseline and outcome summaries. Results. Comparison of baseline and outcome data indicates that students' ability to write in-class summaries improved significantly in this intervention. In baseline writing data, on average, the students in the class scored 1.5 on a 4-point rubric, with 3 being considered "proficient." Outcome data for an equivalent task showed that, on average, the students in the class scored 2.3 on the same 4-point rubric. All students in the class scored higher on the outcome summary assignment than they had scored on the baseline summary assignment, with the greatest improvement being a difference of 1.7 points. Students could write a more complete, well-organized, and effective summary after the intervention. The area still most challenging for students was concluding effectively in a timed setting. All but one of the students reported that they enjoyed writing summaries the same or more after the intervention.;Grade Level. 9th grade;Data Collection Methods. Writing Assessment, Writing Samples, Survey-Self-Assessment, Observation-Student behavior;Curriculum Areas. English Language Arts, ESL/ELL, Writing;Instructional Approaches. Graphic Organizers, Scaffolded Instruction, Writing-Summarizing, Writing-On-demand writing, Writing-Explicit instruction...