tools for determining importance · tools for determining importance look for a main idea statement...

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ToolsforDeterminingImportance

LookforaMainIdeaStatement•  Mainideascanbedirectlystatedinthetextorinferred.

•  “Baumann(1986)foundthatonlyabout15%ofparagraphsinadultexpositorymaterialhavethetopicsentenceintheini1alposi1on.Healsofoundthatonly30%oftheparagraphshavethemainideaexplicitlystatedanywhereintheparagraph.Thesefindingsstronglysuggestthatwemustteachstudentstoovercomethelackofanexplicitlystatedmainidea.”

(Zwiers,2010,p.36)

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LookforaMainIdeaStatement•  Whenstudentsdon’tencounteranexplicitmainideainthefirstsentence,theyformaguessaboutthemainideaofthepassageandthenchecklatersentencesagainstthisguess.”

(Kissner,2006,p.42)

•  Whenmainideasareimplicit,readersrelyonother“tools”tohelpthemformulateandchecktheirmainideainferences.

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LookforRepeatedWordsorPhrases

Importantinformationisoftenrepeated.Goodreaderslookforrepeatedwordsorphrasesthatcarrysimilarmeaning.Ifauthorsarerepeatingideasorconceptsinvariousways,thenlikelythatinformationisimportant.

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UseTextFeatures•  TableofContents•  Titles,headings,andsubheadings•  Font(colored,italics,bold)•  Graphics(e.g.,photos,diagrams,maps,1melines,etc.)

•  Captionsandlabels•  Definitionsandpronunciationguide

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ChunktheText

“…readerswhoareunawareoftextstructuredonotapproachtextwithanyparticularplanofac1on.Consequently,theytendtoretrieveinforma1onfromthetextinaseeminglyrandomway.Studentsawareoftextstructureontheotherhand,tendto“chunk”ororganizethetextastheyread.”

(Snow,2002,p.40)

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•  Descriptive•  Sequential/Chronological•  CauseandEffect•  CompareandContrast•  ProblemandSolution

FiveMainTextStructures

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Descrip1veTextStructure•  Descrip1vetextsarewrittentodescribeanobject,

person,place,eventoridea.•  Thetopicisdescribedbylis1ngorexplainingitsfeatures

orcharacteris1cs;oftenexamplesareprovided.•  Descrip1vewri1ngisfilledwithdetails;somedetailsare

interes1ngandsomedetailsareimportant.Justbecauseadetailisinteres1ngdoesn’tmakeitmostimportant.

•  Themainideaindescrip1vetextismaybeimplicitlystated.

•  Crea1ngmentalimageswhilereadingdescrip1vetexthelpstomoreeffec1velyiden1fythemainidea.

(Kissner,2006,p.56-57)

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SignsofDescriptiveTextStructure

•  Specificcharacteris1csorfeaturesaredescribedorexplained(size,shape,loca1on,color,etc.).

•  Descrip1veadjec1vesareusedthroughoutthetext.•  Detailsareprovidedtohelpthereadervisualizethetopic.

•  Examplesareoftenprovided(forinstance,suchas,anexample,toillustrate,todemonstrate).

•  Thetopicwordorasynonymforthetopicisoftenrepeated.

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Descrip1veTextStructureGuidingQues1ons

•  Topic:Whatspecifictopic,person,idea,orthingisbeingdescribedorexplained?(One-twowords.)

•  ImportantDetails:Howisthetopicbeingdescribedorexplained?(Whatisit,whatdoesitlooklike,whatdoesitdo,whathappens,etc.)

•  MainIdea:Whatfeaturesorcharacteris1csareimportanttorememberorunderstandaboutthetopicbeingdescribed?(Onesentenceorless.)

•  Summary:Whatarethemainideasandimportantdetailsthatarenecessarytoinclude?Howwillyoustatetheminyourownwordsfollowingthestructureofthetext?(Asconciselyaspossible.)

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Descrip1veTextStructureUsingaGraphicOrganizer

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ModelingWithThink-Alouds(Step5)

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Whatchangesoccurinanecosystem?

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Ecosystem Changes

Changesbalanceeachotherout-  Organismslive/die-  Evapora1on/rain

Bigchangesaffecttheecosystem-  Erosion-  Popula1onchange

Successionoccurswhenbigchangescauseanecosystemtochangeintoadifferentecosystem.

Whatchanges

occurinanecosystem?

Smallchangesconstantlyoccurintheecosystembutthesehavenoaffectontheecosystem.

Theycausenochangeintheoverallecosystem

Successionistheprocessofanecosystemchangingintoadifferentecosystem

Smallchangesinanecosystembalanceoutcausingnoaffecttotheoverallecosystem.

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PlanningYourThink-Aloud(Step5)

YourTurn:•  ReadparagraphoneofThe

Aztecs.•  Onablankgraphicorganizer,

recordthetopic,importantdetails,andmainidea.

•  Thinkabouthowyouwillexplainyourthinkingtotheclass.

•  Practiceyourthink-aloudwithyourpartner.

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RereadandDiscusstoClarifyandIden1fyMainIdeasintheText

•  Rereadtoclarifyandconfirmthemainidea.

•  Discusstoconsolidateunderstandingandrememberthetextbetter.

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