I Used My Own Words! Paraphrasing Informational Texts

Paraphrasing helps students make connections with prior knowledge, demonstrate comprehension, and remember what they have read. Through careful explanation and thorough modeling by the teacher in this lesson, students learn to use paraphrasing to monitor their comprehension and acquire new information. They also realize that if they cannot paraphrase after reading, they need to go back and reread to clarify information. In pairs, students engage in guided practice so that they can learn to use the strategy independently. Students will need prompting and encouragement to use this strategy after the initial instruction is completed. The lesson can be extended to help students prepare to write reports about particular topics.

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From Theory to Practice

Paraphrasing helps readers monitor their comprehension.
Paraphrasing encourages readers to make connections with prior knowledge.
Paraphrasing helps readers remember what they have read.

In effective strategy instruction, the teacher explains the purpose of the strategy, how to use it, and when and where to use it
In effective strategy instruction, the teacher models strategy use for students and provides guided practice before expecting students to use the strategy independently.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Materials and Technology

Computers with Internet access
Whiteboard (or overhead) for projection of text and shared writing
Print or digital texts on instructional levels of students in the class
Individual copies of texts (if computers are not available)

Websites

Preparation

1.	Visit the listed websites so that you are familiar with their organization and content. Bookmark these on your classroom computers.
2.	If all students do not have access to computers, print the texts that you will be using from the websites.
3.	For students to be able to paraphrase effectively, material should be on instructional (or independent) level. This will mean that you may have to have various texts, either print or digital, available to match the instructional levels of your students.

Student Objectives

Demonstrate comprehension by paraphrasing facts from informational texts
Gain knowledge and apply what they have learned about paraphrasing by reading information about three unusual animals

Session 1: Introduction of Paraphrasing

a.	Paraphrasing means putting what you have read into your own words.
b.	You paraphrase by reading something, thinking about what it means, and then restating it in your own words.
c.	Paraphrasing is a useful strategy to check to be sure that you have understood when reading something difficult or something that is important to remember.
d.	If you cannot paraphrase after reading, it is important to go back and reread to clarify information.

Session 2: Review and Guided Practice With Paraphrasing

1.	Review what paraphrasing is, how to do it, when to do it, and why it is important. This can be a brief review reminding students of what they have already learned.
2.	Ask students what they know about the anaconda. Record their responses on the whiteboard. Direct them to look at the information about the anaconda from the National Geographic Kids: Creature Features website on the first screen. After everyone has had an opportunity to read the text with the first photograph, think aloud as you paraphrase it.

Session 3: Review and Guided Practice With Paraphrasing

1.	Remind students what paraphrasing is, how to do it, when to do it, and why it is useful. This explanation should be brief.
2.	Tell students that you are going to use paraphrasing to find out more about another animal that may not be well-known to them. Show a picture of the echidna from the Australia Zoo: Amazing Animals website, and ask students if they know what the animal is. Discuss what they already know about the echidna or what they could guess from looking at its picture. List the information on the whiteboard.
3.	Read the first paragraph about the echidna together. This text is more difficult than the texts about the okapi and the anaconda, so you can use it to model your thought process as if you did not understand on the first read. Think aloud, modeling what you would do if you did not remember or understand what was in the paragraph and then reread.

Session 4: Review and Independent Practice With Paraphrasing

1.	Ask students what paraphrasing is, how to do it, when to do it, and why it is useful. If one student responds, repeat the explanation so that all students understand.
2.	Explain to students that they have practiced paraphrasing as a way to monitor whether they have understood what they are reading and as a way to help them remember what they read. In this session, students will read and paraphrase independently. At the end of the session, they will share what they have learned with the other students.
3.	At the San Diego Zoo: Animal Bytes website, each student will choose an animal to read about. If all students do not have access to a computer at the same time, you can print the information ahead of time and have students read the hard copy. Or, if students have access to computers but not all at the same time in the classroom, you can ask them to complete this assignment when their turn at the computer comes. You could also have students work in pairs if there isn't enough time for each of them to have a turn at the computer.
4.	Students will read the text about an animal of their choice, paraphrase as they read, and write down what they have learned. Remind students not to write until they have orally (or silently) paraphrased the information. At the end of the session, students can share their information either in small groups or with the entire class. Take the written information from students to check both accuracy and that they have used their own words.

Extensions

Paraphrasing is a good way to prepare students to write written reports. When students put information into their own words, they are not copying directly from a text. After the previous four sessions, a possible extension would be to identify another topic (such as countries, planets, plants), have students brainstorm what kind of questions would be interesting to answer about these, assign print materials or websites for students to read and paraphrase, take notes to answer the questions, and prepare written reports. These would be more formal than the quick writes that were done in the paraphrasing sessions.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Throughout the sessions, when students are working in pairs or independently, make note of whether or not they are using their own words in paraphrasing. Be ready to intervene with additional modeling and practice if students are having difficulty paraphrasing.
The quick writes at the end of the sessions should be collected to see whether students are using their own words, whether they have understood the text they read, and what information they have learned about the animals. Compare the prior knowledge that you assessed at the beginning of each session with the information included in the quick writes to see what new information has been learned.

Trisha Dotts K-12 Teacher

I love this lesson. It has great gradual release of responsibility and is developmentally appropriate for this age level. I used an adaptation of this lesson with 4 and 5th grades during Media Literacy class.

April Collins K-12 Teacher

This was an absolutely fantastic plan. I am a 5th grade teacher in a virtual school and only had one day for this topic, but I will be revisiting these techniques for the rest of the year. I am excited about teaching this lesson as the first 5th grade ELA class in the New Year 2014!

Trisha Dotts K-12 Teacher

College/Professor

I will be teaching paraphrasing to Chinese college students soon and this resource is great. I do wish there were more strategies and examples to show the different methods of paraphrasing, but the activity and tips are quite useful. Thanks!

College/Professor