As I began reading today, I was intrigued by Part 1 titled “The Case for Summarization”.  I think I was intrigued because we, as teachers, are sometimes very quick to throw something “old” out the window, because something new has come along.  While reading this chapter, I quickly see how summarization is one of those skills we will need the rest of our lives.  Even if we don’t always write the summary down, we summarize orally for our families about our day, we summarize in our mind newspaper articles or news events from television.  We constantly are reworking what we read or heard in our brain and that is summarization.  The book defines summarization as “restating the essence of text or an experience in as few words as possible or in a new, yet efficient, manner”.   

If I had to hit on a Top 3 from this chapter (what I have learned or taken away from or been reminded of) I would have to list the following:

1.  Summarization is an important teaching tool

2.  Chunking a lecture (give frequent breaks for them to summarize before continuing)

3.  Students must dig for information, make sense of it, and attach meaning to it.

I am looking forward to Part 2 on Summarization Savvy as I have glanced at the first few pages.  I can indeed tell that it will once again give me the opportunity to learn something new, remind me of something, or give me an Ah – ha moment!