Jumbled Summary

Jumbled Summary guides students to think about information that has been presented over a brief or extended period of time. In order to show that they know more than just the words that make up their vocabulary or key words in their reading, they write a summary of the ideas represented by those words. Until they can produce a coherent statement, it is difficult to prove that they possess information at a mastery level.

Implementation

1. Develop a set of randomly displayed key words and phrases that all relate to a particular learning experience.

2. Misconceptions, if any, will become evident at this time.

Classroom Management

1. Model this strategy with terms from a recent lesson.

· Ask students to write one or two sentences that correctly apply the relationship among the terms in the context of how the topic was presented.

· This could be used as an exit card formative assessment.

2. Set a timer for 8 minutes.

3. Have students connect the terms and phrases in a logical order to demonstrate understanding of the lesson concept.

4. Use exemplary summaries as the model for all students to revise their own summaries.

5. After eliminating misunderstandings, give students another jumbled summary assignment that covers material covered less recently to check for retention.