Sunday, November 8, 2009

Identifying Important Information: Stop, Drop, and Roll

Is your purpose for highlighting to make the page as colorful as possible? Do you think highlighting every word is helping your mind remember the most important information? When you mindlessly highlight sentences instead of summarizing the author’s message, you are starving your mind of nutritional thoughts.

Reading is not like a hot dog eating contest. It’s like eating in an elegant restaurant; the pace is slow, there are several courses, and the food is eaten in small bites. Mature readers know reading without stopping isn’t good reading. They pace themselves with the movement of the text, stopping often to savor the important ideas and digest the author’s message. The best way to avoid a big fat head ache is to STOP the flow of new information, DROP into your own knowledge to assign meaning, and then ROLL the ideas onto a piece of paper for long-term memory. Every time you STOP, DROP, and ROLL, you increase your engagement and improve your comprehension. This type of cognitive process is called summarizing.

Summarizing occurs when a reader condenses the author’s message by deleting repeated ideas and nonessential details. Summarizing is a three course meal for your mind with an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert.

All the FLIRTing you did before you read is like an appetizer; it wets your appetite but leaves rooms for the main course. The text features advertise the ideas the author thinks are most important. While you read, pay attention to phrases that repeat text feature information. STOP when you identify the important information and highlight no more than five to six words. Match the portion of your highlighting to the size of an appetizer; small yet memorable. In other words, highlight one phrase per paragraph.

The entrée includes reread the section and digging deep into your schema to make connections and revisit difficult vocabulary words. When you DROP the new information into your schema, you combine the information for a meaningful dish of knowledge.

Finally, after identifying important ideas and deleting details, you are ready to ROLL everything into long-term memory. Just as dessert is the perfect end to a three course meal, writing down a condensed version of the author’s message improves your memory and increases your enjoyment of reading.

The next time you sit down to read, don’t try bite off more than your mind can chew. Remember, summarizing satisfies your mind’s hunger to learn. When you take time to taste the text instead of stuffing your mind with empty thoughts, you create a healthy habit of reading.

31 comments:

  1. In the text it said Ideftifying Important Information: stop, drop, and roll. So immidiatly i thought, what does stop, drop and roll have to do with reading. As a result, I'll read on and find out.

    -Latifah Pittman

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  2. In the text it says Stop, Drop, and Roll. When it said this i thought you would really need to do the actions. But as i read the metaphores became clear. As a result i will try and use these strategy while i read.

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  3. From what I read in the text, I learned that you must "STOP, DROP, & ROLL," or summarize, when reading. I also learned from the text that mature readers always stop when reading. To summarize the main points, you shouldn't just read; take the step forward, stop, and summarize what you read.

    Andrew Thompson Section 1

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  4. In the text it says "They pace themselves with the movement of the text, stopping often to savor the important ideas and digest the author’s message."\

    I already know this will hlep me comprehend my reading.

    I wonder what is the right pace? And what is the important information i just read.
    Mike Forstoffer

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  5. After reading the section rereading and connected schema helps you remember. I understand that to understand you have to connect it to something that you already know. I realize that you can learn easier this way.

    Logan Gurreri

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  6. In the text it said stop drop and roll when i first sal this i thought it will be about fire. But when i started reading it wasn't about fire. As a result i might have to try this method.

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  7. Nice analogies...I never would've thought that you would have to stop and roll. I think I will try that...it sounds very interesting.

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  8. I especially liked the analogies in this blog being that my family is so involved in the restaurant enviroment and it really helped me see things clearly. The best one was with the hot dog eating contest and the elegant restaurant, I actually visualized somebody stuffing their face and reading fast and someone taking their time cutting a filet mignon and reading slowly.

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  9. In the text it says (Is your purpose for highlighting to make the page as colorful as possible?)

    I already know- that I highlight a word phrase if I can't remeber it.

    As a result I wonder- Why would this question even be asked?

    David Crisfield

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  10. Stop, Drop, and Roll
    I will remember:
    Summarizing is condensing what you read.
    Text features tell what's most important.

    Jen Fink

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  11. Stop and Summarize.

    I will remember:
    1) Reread the section and go back and visit the vocabulary.
    2) Text features advertise what the author is trying to say.

    Abbie Forry
    Section2

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  12. stop,drop,roll

    I will remember
    1.summarize when reading
    2.stop and summarize

    Het Gandhi

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  13. In the text it says, They pace themselves with the movement of the text, stopping often to savor the important ideas and digest the author’s message. I already know that this will help me understand the text. As a result i wonder what exactly is someones "right pace".

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  14. In the text it says stop drop and roll and I thought it was funny because I knew it wasn't going to be about that at all. I was curious as to how this can apply to reading at first until I started reading. As a result I will try and use this method as I am reading.

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  15. Important Information
    I will remember:

    Highlight
    Summarize

    Pete Floyd

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  16. remembering information

    i will remember to:
    1)stop and put information into my memory
    2)roll all the information together to make more sense

    katie bricker section1

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  17. In the text it says Mature readers know reading without stopping isn’t good reading. I already know that if you cram your mind instead of spacing information out, your grades will suffer. I will remember Breaks and Summerize

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  18. Stop, drop, and roll
    knowing what i read
    summarize what i read.

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  19. Understand Information

    I will remember:
    1) stop and summarize more.

    2) highlight important information.

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  20. Identifying Info
    1) Slow speed.
    2) Take breaks.

    Jake Carr

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  21. If you connect your reading and relate it to something that you already know or that you understand better you will be able to retain the information a lot better then just jumping in the text and trying to remember everything, use flashcards, pot-its, and highlights to help

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  22. Summarizing the message
    I will remember:
    1. Highlight important phrases
    2. Summarize frequently

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  23. In the text it said: stop, drop and roll. So I was thinking about what she meant with by these words. As a result, I found out that she used it as a way to record your thoughts through writing.

    Adam Vetere section 2

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  24. Stop, Highlight

    1. Stop put info into memory
    2. Write summaries

    -Ryan Althoff

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  25. Stop and Summarize.

    I will remember:
    1) Write down vocabulary I am unsure of or unfamiliar with.
    2) Check once in a while to make sure you understand what you read.

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  26. Stop, Drop, and Roll
    1.stop and summarize
    2.take breaks

    ReplyDelete
  27. Stop, Summarize

    1. Stop and take in all the reading.
    2. Continue the first process til reading is done.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Important highlighting

    1. remember info
    2. roll all info together to make better sense and stay in my memory

    ReplyDelete
  29. Identifying the information

    1. take breaks
    2. steady pace

    ReplyDelete
  30. 1. Write Vocab

    2. Take Breaks







    Dustin R. Wagnon

    ReplyDelete