---

Lesson Summaries

An Action Research Report

Merren Kennedy, 1998

Introduction:

After spending six weeks in a grade 7/8 classroom, I had many ideas for an action research project. I realized that there were several areas of my teaching practice that I would like to improve upon, including lesson summaries. Lesson summaries are important tools for reinforcing concepts, for evaluating individual learning, and for stimulating further learning. Upon reflection, I realized that the students in the grade 7/8 classroom were not always fully benefiting from their learning experiences, because they were not being followed by a lesson summary. My lesson summaries were often rushed, or they were virtually non-existent; my lessons would have a beginning and a middle, but often would lack an ending. Usually my summary techniques at the end of a lesson would involve teacher questioning that required an oral response, or would require the students to write a written summary of a particular activity for homework. Questioning can be a very effective summary technique if there is sufficient time allowed for it to occur at the end of a lesson. However, due to timing, the end of many of my lessons were often rushed. Therefore, I did not find questioning to be a truly effective means for evaluating student learning, nor for summarizing lessons. Written summaries worked well with the grade 7/8 class, because they provided me with information regarding individual studentsí understanding of specific material. Working from the information that I obtained from written summaries, I was able to provide a review of material if it was required. Although I found that written summaries were informative and provided a summary of material for the students, I do not think that a written summary is an effective means to summarize all of the lessons that are given within a school day.

I knew that I would be moving into a grade 1 classroom after the grade 7/8 placement. The decision to experiment with effective lesson summary techniques in the grade 1 classroom came naturally from my experiences in the grade 7/8 classroom. I realized how important lesson summaries were for grade 1 students, after observing lessons that were given by my Associate to that class. Lesson summary techniques that I observed at the grade 1 level facilitated closure to a particular lesson or activity, and allowed for students to recall and apply new learning in a meaningful way.

Process:

Although this action research topic did not require a significant amount of input from my Associate, I did find it necessary to offer a summary of my concerns about this area of my teaching practice to my Associate before beginning the project. Through observation of various summary techniques that my Associate used for this grade level, I was able to determine how I might summarize lessons effectively to facilitate studentsí learning. The entire action research project spanned a time period of six weeks. During the first week of the project I observed my Associateís teaching practice, and noted the different summary techniques that were used in the classroom. At the end of the first week I was prepared to decide on the techniques that I would feel comfortable using, and that I would like to experiment with in the classroom. During the next five weeks of the project I made an effort to include varied, and effective summaries at the end of the lessons that I had prepared. I decided to conduct this project by experimenting with three different methods of summarizing. The three techniques that were focused on included, questioning and discussion periods, an activity, and a teacher-student conference. The aim of this project was to determine how to most effectively summarize any given lesson.

Questioning and discussion periods: Questioning and discussion periods were used to summarize a shared experience by the class, or to summarize an individualís experience. This type of summary was particularly effective after a shared reading experience, or after a small, co-operative group work activity. Questions need to be specific to the desired outcomes of the lesson to maintain focus within the group. Discussions can often be difficult if too many students are involved. Discussion periods were most effective when working with smaller groups of students. I found that it was possible to evaluate individual and group learning through the use of well-worded questions, and guided discussion periods.

Activities: An activity that follows up a learning experience can be a very effective summary technique. I used activities to follow-up lessons in several subject areas. For this project, an activity could have included a game that reinforced specific skills during gym class, a game that reinforced phonetics, or a worksheet that had to be filled in by using knowledge that had been acquired during a lesson. I did not include activities that themselves needed to be summarized in anyway to this section. For example, having students write a poem would not be suitable, because this activity would require a summary itself. Activities that were used as summaries were particularly effective during physical education, and mathematics.

Student-teacher conferences: At this grade level, student-teacher conferences usually involved the correction of an individual studentís work. Conferences were very effective summary techniques. They enable the teacher to see a student working through particular concepts, and they allow for individual evaluation. The student will often be able to identify where a correction is necessary with some guidance. Student-teacher conferences were used after the completion of an activity, such as a worksheet, particularly during mathematics and language lessons.

Results:

Throughout the duration of this action research project, I noticed that I definitely included lesson summaries in all of my lessons. By being aware of the importance of including a lesson summary within every lesson, I became increasingly aware of timing and pacing during lessons. Gaining control of timing and pacing during lessons enabled me to include the lesson summaries that I had planned for. I observed several things during the six weeks that this project lasted.

The students benefited from having learned knowledge and concepts reinforced after a lesson.I noticed this particularly during review periods. After a lesson followed by an effective summary that reinforced particular concepts, the students were able to produce accurate answers related to those concepts during a review session. For example, the students engaged in a questioning and a discussion after a shared reading of "Trees are Nice." The next day a lesson activity required students to create a sentence describing why trees are nice. The students were able to accurately remember information about trees that had been discussed the previous day, and they were able to work from that knowledge.

The three different lesson summary types that were the focus of the study were equally effective.I did not notice that one type of summary was more effective than another. However, different summaries were often more suitable to specific types of lessons. Questioning and discussion sessions were very effective after shared reading, as a reminder of a learned routine, such as logging onto the computer, or after the students had completed an activity that had required group work. Activities effectively summarized several physical education skills, such as ball skills. Activities were also effective after mathematics lessons relating to concepts including addition, and graphing. Student-teacher conferences were effective summaries for individual work efforts, or for whole group efforts.

Lessons with effective summaries carry more meaning than lessons that are not followed by a summary.A comparison of my initial experiences in the grade 7/8 classroom with my later experiences in the grade 1 classroom resulted in the conclusion that all lesson require a beginning, a middle, an end. A lesson summary is an effective tool for providing closure to an idea by reinforcing and solidifying a concept. Summaries provide a student with the opportunity to build a greater understanding of an idea, and develop the skills for the transfer of knowledge within the classroom, as well as, from the classroom to life situations. Summaries are a springboard for future activities and learning within the classroom, and in life situations.

There are several ways to summarize a lesson. I evaluated only three different summary techniques because they were used more frequently than other forms of summary during the course of this project. I recognize that a lesson summary can take any form as long as it serves the purpose of providing closure to a lesson.

Although the motivation for this project resulted from my experiences in a grade 7/8 classroom, the results for the project were taken from observations in the grade 1 classroom, as well as, from a comparison between my lessons that were given at the grade 7/8 level and those that were given at the grade 1 level. The observations that formed the results of this project were taken from student progress in both of the classrooms, and from my own reflections on my lessons.

Conclusions:

As a result of this action research project, I have an increased awareness of the importance of lesson summaries and their place in the classroom. Attempting to include effective lesson summaries in all of my lessons has certainly addressed a concern about my teaching practice, and has improved my teaching greatly. This action research attempt has made me increasingly aware of the need for teachers to pursue professional and personal development throughout their careers.