PARAPHRASING WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIES, LESSONS

Paraphrasing Worksheets:

- Provide a short passage and have students paraphrase it in their own words. Focus on using synonyms and rewording the passage, not just changing a few words.

Grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Worksheet for Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting
Paraphrasing involves researching and collecting the best ideas,

facts, questions, and/or opinions from a passage or collection of passages; those key details are then condensed and clarified by either discussions and/or written in your own words. A paraphrase that is used in academic writing must be cited and or attributed to the original text source! 

Paraphrasing is a critical process and skill for close reading and one of the first strategies that should be taught to improve reading comprehension! The deepest reading comprehension and best understanding of complex texts is reached when students have a good working understanding and skill of paraphrasing.

Paraphrase Power: Activities and Lessons

LESSON PLANS ON PARAPHRASING AND SYNONYMS

Paraphrasing Teaching Sequence

[PDF] PARAPHRASING W R I T I N G1. W R I T I N G paraphrasing 1 exercises exercises. A Make a different word, using the prompt in brackets. e.g. development (change to verb) - to develop.

[PDF]Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing - Hardin County ...distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout ... What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

[PDF]PARAPHRASING ACTIVITIESPARAPHRASING ACTIVITIES. ACTIVITY 1. Read the original text below. Highlight the words that you think are specialized words or words that should not be ...

[PDF]Paraphrasing ExerciseParaphrasing is a verbal summary of the key ideas of your partner's ... Make a statement in response to one of the items on the paraphrase activity exercises.

[PDF]Paraphrase Writing - ESL WritingLesson 1: Paraphrase with Synonyms. What to do: Find a synonym for the words/phrases that are underlined. Re-write each sentence using these new words or ...

[PDF]Paraphrasing and Summarising - Curtin UniversityParaphrasing is re-writing another person's words so that the original meaning of their ..... following exercises will allow you to practice that skill. Practice activity.

[PDF]ParaphrasingWhen paraphrasing, a writer should restate the author's words or ideas in ... Paraphrasing also allows a writer to express another author's key points using fewer ...

[PDF]Paraphrase WorksheetParaphrase Worksheet. Whether working on a research paper or a personal narrative, presenting the ideas of a credible source using your own language is an ...

[PDF]Paraphrasing Without Plagiarizing - Douglas CollegeParaphrasing is using your own words to tell the reader what another author said while .... Do the exercises below to test your understanding of paraphrasing.

[PDF]Paraphrasing ExercisesParaphrasing Exercises adapted from

[PDF]Summarizing and ParaphrasingBell Labs serves as the original location of the discovery of cosmic background radiation. In 1964, During research on satellite signals, a quiet hum was.

Reading Comprehension Skill: Summarize Fiction and Nonfiction Reading Passages and Worksheets with Answer Keys GRADE 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 pdf

Summarizing Reading Strategies for Reading Comprehension 

Grade 3 Readings Passages with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Animal Studies
REALISTIC FICTION: Community Meeting

Grade 4 Readings Passages with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:

NONFICTION: A Chicago Changer
REALISTIC FICTION: I Like Plants

Grade 5 Readings Passages with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:

NONFICTION: City Systems
REALISTIC FICTION: More Trees

Grade 6 Readings Passages with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:

NONFICTION: Prairie Ecology
FICTION: Letter to Grandmother

Grade 7 Readings Passages with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:

NONFICTION: Prairie Keepers
REALISTIC FICTION: See Our Progress

Grade 8 Readings passages with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
SPEECH: What is Your Own Big Plan? Excerpts from a speech by President Barack Obama in Arlington, Virginia

Summarizing teaches students how to discern the most important ideas in a text, how to ignore irrelevant information, and how to integrate the central ideas in a meaningful way. Teaching students to summarize improves their memory for what is read. Summarization strategies can be used in almost every content area.  https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/summarizing

Summarizing Sentence Starters:

• In summary...
• The story/passage is mainly about...
• The character solved the conflict by...
• To sum up...
• To summarize...
• Putting it all together...
• My initial/final ideas are...
• My rating/ranking...
• To wrap things up...
• To conclude/review/analyze...
• To weigh in...
• My appraisal...
• In short...
• All in all...
• All things considered...

Reading Comprehension Skill: Infer the Main Idea

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Saving Your Family's Energy Dollar
FICTION: The Ants and the Grasshopper

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Space Food
REALISTIC FICTION: The Challenge

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Animal Studies
REALISTIC FICTION: Mousie

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Plants and Food
FABLE: North American Fable

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Pilsen
REALISTIC FICTION: John's Bright Idea

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: My Job
HISTORICAL FICTION: The Gulls of Salt Lake

Skill: Identify Fact and Opinion

Grade 3 NONFICTION Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
A Very Helpful Resource
Ghana

Grade 4 NONFICTION Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
Egypt
Natural Gas: An American Treasure

Grade 5 NONFICTION Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
Chicago Changes
Ethiopia

Grade 6 NONFICTION Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
Seasons on the Prairie
Zambia

Grade 7 NONFICTION Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
Bold Plans, Big Dreams, City Progress
Kenya

Grade 8 NONFICTION Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
South Africa
Changing the Ecosystem

Skill: Infer Meaning from Context

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: What is a Fable?
FABLE: The Tortoise and the Hare

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Learning about the Solar System
FICTION: The Astronaut's Diary

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: An American Legacy
HISTORICAL FICTION: His First Dollar

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Prairie Ecology
REALISTIC FICTION: Prairie Summer

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Symbols, Maps and Art--Read to Learn
REALISTIC FICTION: My Painting

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Plants and Places
FICTION: My Career as a Botanist

Skill: Identify/Analyze Sequence

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Chicago Changes
FICTION: Letter to Grandmother

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Staying in Phoenix
FICTION: Living in the Desert

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: American Explorers
FICTION: Traveling with Lewis and Clark

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Traveling West
FICTION: Stopping in Denver

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Today's Telephone
FICTION: Pigeon Express

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Transportation Changes
FICTION: Pilot

Skill: Infer Predictions

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Working at the Hospital
FICTION: My New Brother

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Working at the Television Station
REALISTIC FICTION: We're on the News

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Our Streets
REALISTIC FICTION: Changing Our Street

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Transportation Workers
FICTION: The Technology Trip

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: City Systems
REALISTIC FICTION: 24 Hours

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Chicago High Schools
REALISTIC FICTION: My First Day of High School

Skill: Compare and Contrast

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Chicago's First Leader
HISTORICAL FICTION: Potawatomie Prairie

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Seasons
HISTORICAL FICTION: Potawatomie Prairie

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Reversing the Chicago River
HISTORICAL FICTION: Potawatomie Prairie

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Before Chicago
HISTORICAL FICTION: Potawatomie Prairie

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Learning about the Solar System
HISTORICAL FICTION: Potawatomie Prairie

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Harold Washington's Acceptance Speech
HISTORICAL FICTION: Potawatomie Prairie

Skill: Locate and Classify Information

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Before Chicago
FICTION: Spring is Coming

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:

NONFICTION: Changing the Prairie
REALISTIC FICTION: The Prairie Project

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: From Many Places
REALISTIC FICTION: Our Lemons

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Nutrition Lesson
FICTION: The Food Change

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Breaking the Food Chain
REALISTIC FICTION: Letter from Chicago

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Public Transportation
FICTION: Changing Transportation Routes

Skill: Identify and Infer Character Traits

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FICTION: The Turtle and the Ducks
NONFICTION: The Chicago Fire

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FICTION: A Proud Flight
NONFICTION: Pigeon Creek

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
HISTORICAL FICTION: Soldier's Letter
NONFICTION: Valley Forge

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FABLE: The Lion and the Spider
NONFICTION: Maintaining Cultural Continuity

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
HISTORICAL FICTION: The Nominee
NONFICTION: Honest Abe

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Remarks of Senator Barack Obama--Wesleyan University Commencement
FICTION: A New Day

Skill: Analyze/Infer Motive

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Choosing a Park
REALISTIC FICTION: Letter from Chicago

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Prairie Pioneers
FOLKTALE: How the Firefly Got Its Light

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Election Choices
HISTORICAL FICTION: Lincoln's Choice

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: The First Flyers
FICTION: My Cousin's Lesson

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Changing America
REALISTIC FICTION: The Big Game

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: A Chicago Changer
REALISTIC FICTION: The Missing Money

Skill: Analyze/Infer Relationships

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Block Clubs
REALISTIC FICTION: The New Family

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: City Government
REALISTIC FICTION: Community Meeting

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Pioneer Families
REALISTIC FICTION: Pioneer Diary

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: The Captain's Job
FICTION: The Hero

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Changing Chicago
REALISTIC FICTION: My Father's Miracle

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: The Football Team
REALISTIC FICTION: The Quarterback

Skill: Analyze/Infer Mood, Tone

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FICTION: The Little Red Hen
REALISTIC FICTION: The New Student

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FICTION: The Little Red Hen
REALISTIC FICTION: The History Mystery

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FICTION: Nature's Violet Children
FICTION: The Cloud

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FICTION: The Elves and the Shoemaker
HISTORICAL FICTION: The First Flag

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
REALISTIC FICTION: My First Baseball Game
REALISTIC FICTION: The Train Ride

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
REALISTIC FICTION: My New President
REALISTIC FICTION: My Sister, the Soldier

Skill: Figure out how the Author Uses Techniques to Communicate

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
POEM: This Little Light of Mine
REALISTIC FICTION: The Train

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FICTION: The Different Bird
POEM: We Shall Overcome

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
POEM: His Eye is on the Sparrow

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FICTION: Sir Gobble
POEM: I've Got Peace Like a River

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
REALISTIC FICTION: The Red Apples
SPEECH: Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
POETRY: He Had His Dream
HISTORICAL FICTION: Lexington

Skill: Analyze/Infer the Author's Point of View

Grade 3 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
FABLE: The Boy Who Cried Wolf
POEM: Raindrops

Grade 4 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: The Working Tools of Insects
REALISTIC FICTION: Why Did Mama Change Her Mind?

Grade 5 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
NONFICTION: Who Am I?
REALISTIC FICTION: Mama's Happy Christmas

Grade 6 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
REALISTIC FICTION: The Lost Dog
SPEECH: President Obama Labor Day Address

Grade 7 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
HISTORICAL FICTION: Columbus and the Egg
SPEECH: Deval Patrick's Acceptance Speech

Grade 8 Readings with Multiple Choice and Short Response Questions:
SPEECH: Deval Patrick's Acceptance Speech
HISTORICAL FICTION: Training for the Presidency

Here is a paraphrasing worksheet with directions and 4 short passages:

Paraphrasing Worksheet 

Directions: Paraphrasing means restating information from a source using your own words and sentence structures. It's more than just replacing a few words - you need to completely reword the original text. 

Read each passage below and paraphrase it in the space provided. Try to reword as much as you can while still expressing the same essential ideas.

Original: The Louvre Museum in Paris, France is one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. It is located along the Seine River and was originally built as a fortress in the 12th century. Today, the Louvre contains over 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art. Some of the most famous pieces in its collection are the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Over 10 million people visit the Louvre each year. 

Paraphrased: 

Original: Wolves are predators that live and hunt in packs of around 6 to 10 animals. They prey on large mammals like deer, elk, and moose. Wolves live and breed in a pack with an alpha male and an alpha female as the leaders. They communicate by making howls, barks, and whines. Wolves inhabit forests, tundra, and grasslands in North America, Europe, and Asia. They play an important role in their ecosystems. 

Paraphrased:

Original: Polar bears are marine mammals that live throughout the Arctic region. They evolved to occupy and survive in some of the planet's coldest environments. Polar bears have thick, water-repellent fur and a layer of insulating fat to keep them warm. They are also excellent swimmers and have partially webbed feet. Polar bears mainly prey on seals and use their keen sense of smell to hunt them. They are at the top of the Arctic food chain but face threats from climate change and human activity.

Paraphrased: 

Original: Hurricanes are large, swirling storm systems that form over warm ocean waters. As the warm moisture rises, it causes powerful thunderstorms with heavy rain and high winds. Hurricanes rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. They can last over tropical waters for several days. Hurricanes have an organized eye at the center that is relatively calm. When hurricanes make landfall, the storm surge, high winds, and flooding can cause extensive damage.

Paraphrased:

- Give students famous quotes or sayings and have them paraphrase the meaning.

Here is a paraphrasing activity with famous quotes and sayings:

Paraphrasing Quotes and Sayings

Directions: Read each famous quote or saying below. In the space provided, paraphrase the essence or meaning of the quote in your own words.

Original: "Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

Paraphrased:

Original: "When one door closes, another opens."

Paraphrased: 

Original: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." - Golden Rule

Paraphrased:

Original: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." - Lao Tzu 

Paraphrased:

Original: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky

Paraphrased:

Original: "Out of difficulties grow miracles." - Jean de la Bruyere

Paraphrased:

This activity helps students understand and express the underlying meaning of famous sayings by paraphrasing them in their own words. It's great practice for comprehending ideas and restating them effectively.

- Find news articles, paragraphs from books, song lyrics, etc. and create a "Paraphrase This" worksheet.

Here is an example "Paraphrase This" worksheet using a news article excerpt:

Paraphrase This

Directions: Read the following excerpt from a news article. Paraphrase the information in your own words in the space provided.

Original:

A rapidly intensifying, late-season storm is churning across the North Central states and Upper Midwest on Monday, unleashing heavy snow, gusty winds and travel-disrupting ice. The storm is dumping heavy snow from northeast Colorado and northwest Kansas to much of Nebraska, southern South Dakota, southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are occurring in some areas. In addition, freezing rain and sleet is creating icy conditions across parts of eastern Kansas, Missouri and central Illinois. This storm has the potential to produce more than a foot of snow in some locations by Tuesday as it slowly spins over the region. Strong winds gusting as high as 50 mph will also lead to reduced visibility in blowing and drifting snow.

Paraphrased:

Lessons:

- Explain what paraphrasing is - restating ideas or information from a source using your own words and sentence structures. It's not just replacing words.

Here is an example lesson explaining what paraphrasing is:

Paraphrasing Lesson

Objective: Students will understand what paraphrasing is and how to paraphrase effectively. 

What is paraphrasing?

- Paraphrasing is restating ideas or information from a source text using your own words and sentence structures. 

- It involves taking a passage and re-expressing it in your own writing style with different vocabulary and phrasing. 

- Paraphrasing goes beyond just changing a few words or phrases here and there. You need to completely rewrite the original text in your own words.

- The paraphrased version should express the same essential ideas as the original but use different vocabulary and sentence structures. It's not just find-replace of synonyms. 

- Paraphrasing is an important skill for research writing because it allows you to take information from sources and restate it in a new form with your own voice.

- Proper paraphrasing gives credit to the original source by citing it, rather than plagiarizing.

Let's look at some examples of effective paraphrasing versus weak paraphrasing. [Show examples].

Now let's practice paraphrasing short passages to improve our skills. [Provide paraphrasing exercise].

- Show examples of good and bad paraphrasing. Have students identify why one is effective and one isn't.

- Teach how to paraphrase: read to understand, take notes/highlight key ideas, set text aside, rewrite in own words.

- Give tips like: focus on ideas more than specific words or phrasing, change sentence structures, cite sources.

Activities:

- Paraphrasing races - break into teams, provide a short text, see who can paraphrase it accurately the fastest.

- Paraphrasing presentations - have students paraphrase short articles or passages to present to class.

- Paraphrasing posters - turn a factual paragraph into an eye-catching poster by paraphrasing the key information.

- Paraphrasing practice - give daily warm-ups with a short text to paraphrase, followed by discussion of students' versions.

- Peer paraphrasing - have students exchange original paragraphs and paraphrase their peer's writing. See how closely it matches the original.