Summarizing Expository Texts

• DOI: 10.1097/tld.0b013e3181ff5a88
• Publication Date: 2010-11-11T07:04:28Z
• Authors: Carol Westby; Barbara Culatta; Barbara Lawrence; Kendra Hall-Kenyon
• Keywords: 4. Education; 05 social sciences; 0503 education

Purpose: This article reviews the literature on students’ developing skills in summarizing expository texts and describes strategies for evaluating students’ expository summaries. Evaluation outcomes are presented for a professional development project aimed at helping teachers develop new techniques for teaching summarization. Methods: Strategies for evaluating expository summaries were applied in a professional development project in which teachers learned to teach fourthand fifth-grade students to identify the macrostructures of short expository texts. Outcomes were measured by comparing results for students in experimental classrooms whose teachers received instruction in text macrostructure with results for students in control classrooms. Results: Students in the treatment condition produced significantly higher microstructure and macrostructure scores than students in the control group. Differences were greater between treatment and control groups than between fourthand fifth-grade groups. Conclusions: This study provided preliminary evidence that treatment involving identification of expository text structures and use of graphic organizers to highlight the organization promoted greater growth in summarization skills than age-related development for fourthand fifth-grade students.