Helping Students Distinguish between Mixtures and Chemical Compounds

For most middle school-level students, summarizing main ideas can prove to be difficult, especially for those with low vocabulary and language acquisition skills. Working specifically with students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and in a special education program, we discovered that teaching summarization as a reading strategy increased students' abilities to (a) acquire and use information and (b) better comprehend science concepts. In combination with other vocabulary attainment activities, summary frames enhanced the students' ability to apply information to discussions, laboratory reports, and projects. In this article, we demonstrate how to use the summary frame strategy in the context of a lesson on cells. This lesson allows for (a) knowledge of terminology through vocabulary card activities, (b) comprehension of concepts presented through summary frame activities, and (c) application of concepts through cell models and organelle classroom responsibilities.