While summarizing has been shown to be one of the most effective strategies for building content knowledge, that gain only applies when students are allowed to make their own judgements about what’s important and frame their summaries for an audience. When we ask them to "learn" the teacher's summary - they are reduced to memorizing "another fact."When we ask our students to create authentic summaries (with audience and purpose) we give students a chance to reflect on their learning. Instead of simply testing them for factual knowledge, students can be asked:
What did I think was important?
How did I share that with my audience?
Did my summary match audience and purpose?
Is my summary accurate?
Did I use my own words and style?
What did I learn from the activity?
Anthony Armstrong on 12 Nov 09Great Debates in American History by Peter Pappas Overview and Answer Key Unit 1: How Should Society Balance the Need for Tolerance with the Need to Protect Itself? Unit 2: How Powerful Should the National Government Be? Unit 3: Who Should Be Allowed to Vote? Unit 4: Should Women Have Equal Treatment Under the Law? Unit 5: How Should Americans Treat the Land? Unit 6: Has Industrialization Produced More Benefits or More Problems for the Nation? Unit 7: Should the United States Pursue a Foreign Policy of Isolationism or Interventionism? Unit 8: What Should the Nation's Immigration Policy Be? Unit 9: To What Extent Is the Federal Government Responsible for the Welfare and Security of the Individual? Unit 10: Is Civil Disobedience Ever Justified as a Method of Political Change? Unit 11: What Are the Limits of a Free Press? Unit 12: How Much Should the Nation Invest in Defense?