Point eight.      At the end, use a few words to retell the main idea.

The group saw other parts of the pamphlet as having this function. They realized that we could not sum up in the same way we would if we had rewritten a story. We did, however, discuss what would go into a summary if what we had written had been done in paragraph form. This allowed a comparison of the two formats, as well.

To summarize, we discussed many academic points during the rewriting of the brochure. Possibly the best part of this whole process was the discussion that the women had about writing. They found the discussions as valuable as the actual writing practice.

The following is a list of topics discussed in the course of the rewrite.

1. We change our language and style depending on why and to whom we are speaking or writing.
2. Vocabulary.
3. Dictionary skills.
4. Context.
5. 5. Thesaurus use.
6. Spelling and word patterns.
7. Syllables and syllabication.
8. Sentence structure.

1. subjects and verbs
2. fragments
3. wordiness
4. simple sentence
5. compound sentence
6. complex sentence
7. adjectives and adverbs
8. phrases and clauses
9. punctuation

9. Word structure.

1. root word
2. prefix and suffix
3. compound words

10. Main idea.
11. Sequencing ideas.
12. Fact and opinion.
13. Importance of feedback.
14. Summarizing.

Rewriting a piece of material is an interesting and different approach to teaching writing skills. This method has become part of our writing program.

Reference:

Doak, Cecilia, Doak, Leonard & Root, Jane. (1985). Teaching patients with low literacy Skills Philadelphia, P A.: Lippincott.