Reading Summary Project

REQUIREMENTS, PROCESS DESCRIPTION,

AND GRADING

Requirements

Each project page should consist of the following: Each student must submit 5 project pages on diskette during the term, with a paper copy of the source article.

Process Description

These are the steps that you need to follow to complete your project. If you follow these steps, one completed project page should look similar to the example.
  1. Learn to use Netscape (or another web browser). You will have at least two classes in one of the computer labs on campus. During the first class, your teacher will show you how to use Netscape to get around on the World Wide Web (www). You will have time to practice and ask questions in class, but you also need to practice outside of class. Your teacher can tell you where computer labs are and what their hours are. In other class periods in the lab, your teacher will show you basic techniques for searching, and how to find specific articles of interest to you.
  2. Use the List of Sources to find an article that interests you. Each of the sources is a little bit different, and some have articles that are more difficult to read than others. You should browse (look through or skim) several different sources and articles before you choose an article for your project. On the List of Sources page, there are tips to help you find what you are looking for. Here is one: Before you start looking, get an idea of what you want. The more specific your idea is, the more time you will save. Remember, it's very easy to get lost for hours just looking around. You may choose an article about any subject, but it should be an informative article (one that gives information). In addition, it should not be very short. Of course, you may choose a very long article if you are ambitious or very interested.
  3. Print the article to hand in to your teacher. You may also want to make a copy to carry with you and read at home. Be sure that the URL (location) is on the printout. If it is not, write it out by hand at the top of the article. In Netscape, the URL is always in the white box after Location, near the top of the screen.
  4. Read the article and locate the main ideas and important supporting details. Be careful with this step, because newspaper articles are not organized from general to specific, and important related pieces of information may appear in different places in the article.
  5. Make notes from the article using key words. In order to write in your own words, be sure not to copy phrases or sentences from the original article.  Focus on key words and synonyms when you take notes.  Then organize your notes into an outline, to get ready for the summary.
  6. Write a short summary of the article using your own words. A) The summary should be about one paragraph long, or one-half of a single-spaced typewritten page for an average-length article. If you choose a very long article, of course your summary will be longer, too. B) Your summary should include the main ideas and important supporting details from the article, and it should be in your own words whenever possible (paraphrased). Of course, key words do not need to be paraphrased. C) Be sure to organize your summary logically, from general to specific (see point #5 above). You may not be able to follow the organization of the article itself, and will probably have to think carefully about how you are going to organize your summary. At this point, you might want to look at the example again.
  7. In a separate paragraph, write your personal response to the article. Your personal response should include A) why you chose the article, B) your opinion about the article in general (whether you think it was good or bad, useful or useless), C) reasons to support your opinion, and D) any other opinions or thoughts you may have about information in the article. Take another look at the example.
  8. Identify five new vocabulary words. These should be words from the article that you think are important and that you want to remember. After your personal response, list the words. After each word, A) write its part of speech (noun, verb etc.), B) write other related word forms and their parts of speech, C) copy the sentence in which you found it in the article (the original context), and D) write a synonym or explanation of the meaning of the word. These words will help anyone who wants to read the original article. If this seem complicated, just follow the example.You should also make a copy of this information on a separate piece of paper or note card, or print it out after your project page is published. This will be your own personal copy to study from, because you will be tested on your own words, as part of the unit tests in the course. On your own copy, write a sentence of your own using each new word (or one of its forms).
  9. Type your summary, response, and vocabulary, and save it as a .txt file on a diskette. It's a good idea to have two diskettes (3.5") and save it on both (make a backup copy). That way, if one is damaged or lost, you will still have a copy. It's also a good idea to print out your finished project page, just for safety. Click on the link above to see exactly how to type and save it, and also how to name your file. When you are happy with what you have written, hand in your diskette to the teacher, who will publish it and list it on the summary index.

Grading

You will be tested on your vocabulary in unit tests during the course. Your project as a whole is worth 10% of your course grade. Thus, each page of the project is worth approximately 2% of your course grade. At the end of the term, grades for all project pages will be averaged and then weighted at 10% in order to allow for improvement. Each project page will be graded according to the following criteria:
Project Main Page Objectives Requirements Sources How to Save Summary Index Example
Written by Margaret Young 3/98; revised 12/99