Story Impressions/Exchange-Compare Writing
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- This is a method for integrating content area reading with writing within a cooperative learning framework.
1. Teacher assigns students to heterogeneous groups and gives each student a role to perform based on the student’s strengths.
Researcher |
Consult secondary materials such as dictionary, encyclopedia, or other topic-related documents to help group complete the composing task. |
Scribe |
Record summary generated by group. |
Content Editor |
Check summary against text for accuracy of information. |
Proofreader |
Check summary for accuracy of writing mechanics and grammar usage. |
Reporter |
Read summary aloud to group for editing and to rest of class for discussion. |
2. Teacher lists 10–15 key vocabulary words from the unit text.
3. Each group uses these words to predict the informational content of the unit contained in the text to be read and writes a short collaborative summary (one or two paragraphs) in which each word is used.
4. Students read the text.
5. Each group rewrites the collaborative summary to reflect new understandings of the actual text content.
6. Each group reads the summary to the rest of the class for discussion and feedback.
Sample Initial Collaborative Summary (key words highlighted):
Birds are warm-blooded vertebrate animals that have feathers and can fly. All birds lay eggs in a nest. They have hollow bones that make them light enough to fly. Birds evolved from dinosaurs, which were reptiles. Some birds are kept as pets, but there are many different kinds of birds in the wild. Birds migrate to warm climates during winter and can live in many environments.
Sample Revised Collaborative Summary:
Birds are warm-blooded vertebrate animals that have feathers, powerful hearts, hollow bones, a beak, no teeth, and excellent eyesight. All birds lay eggs and build a nest or lay their eggs in another bird’s nest. Many, but not all, can fly. Birds that can fly tend to have longer wings, asymmetrical feathers, and a rounded breastbone to give them lift. Because birds need a lot of energy to fly, they actually eat a lot of food. Birds can be carnivores, or meat-eaters, herbivores, or plant-eaters, or both. Some birds can swim (like the penguin) and some can run very fast (like the ostrich), even though they can’t fly. Some flying animals, like bats, are not birds. Birds evolved from dinosaurs, which were reptiles. The bird’s feathers are actually modified scales like those on a snake! Some birds are kept as pets, but there are many different kinds of birds in the wild—over 9,000 different kinds. Some birds migrate to a warmer climate in the winter and a cooler climate in the summer. They live in many environments all over the Earth.
