Process Verbs — Research, Paraphrase, Summarize, Classify

Mystery-verb warm-up: teacher describes 4 mini-scenarios without naming the verb and children guess which Set-8 verb fits. (1) 'I am reading a book to find facts for my essay.' (2) 'I am putting the book's idea in MY OWN words.' (3) 'I am taking a long source and making it short.' (4) 'I am sorting facts into 3 different groups for my body paragraphs.'

• Read each scenario slowly
• Wait for guesses; affirm each
• Reveal the verb in writing on the board (RESEARCH, PARAPHRASE, SUMMARIZE, CLASSIFY)

M-3-S-VOC-04-B Photograph

Reference photo grid: 4 small images of Grade-3 children performing each process action — child reading a book (research), child writing in a notebook with a book open beside them (paraphrase), child holding up a small index card next to a long book (summarize), child placing sticky notes in 3 piles on a desk (classify). Print-ready 4x6 grid.

Today you meet your first four process verbs of the spring — words that name WHAT WRITERS DO. These are special words because they are both ACTIONS (you can do them) and LABELS (you can name them as you do them). VERB 1: RESEARCH. To research means to gather information from sources — books, websites, encyclopedias, real-world observation. You will research your expert topic across this term. VERB 2: PARAPHRASE. To paraphrase means to put a source's idea in YOUR OWN WORDS. The source's idea stays the same; the words become yours. We learn this fully in lesson 10. VERB 3: SUMMARIZE. To summarize means to take a long source and make it SHORT — keeping the big idea, dropping the details. SUMMARIZE is different from PARAPHRASE: paraphrase = same length, your words; summarize = shorter, big idea only. VERB 4: CLASSIFY. To classify means to sort items into GROUPS by a feature. You classify your research notes into 3 body-paragraph groups before drafting. Each of these verbs also has a NOUN form: research / paraphrase / summary / classification. These nouns let you talk about your work.

• Notice each sentence names what the writer DID with the source. The process verb is the metacognitive label.

  model RESEARCH: 'I researched honeybees by reading two books and one website.' PARAPHRASE: 'I paraphrased a sentence from Sandra Markle's book about honeybee dances.' SUMMARIZE: 'I summarized a 4-page chapter into one paragraph about hive structure.' CLASSIFY: 'I classified my facts into three groups: how bees live, how bees communicate, and why bees matter.'

  prompt Teacher models a metacognitive sentence for each verb.

• What is the difference between PARAPHRASE and SUMMARIZE?
• Give a sentence using CLASSIFY about your own work.

M-3-S-VOC-04-A Chart

11x17 anchor with 4 vertical columns: RESEARCH (purple band, definition 'gather information from sources', example 'I researched honeybees in 2 books'), PARAPHRASE (blue, 'put a source's idea in your own words', example 'I paraphrased Markle's dance description'), SUMMARIZE (orange, 'make a long source short', example 'I summarized a 4-page chapter'), CLASSIFY (green, 'sort items into groups', example 'I classified my facts into 3 body-paragraph groups'). Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Three-encounter routine on each verb: pronounce, define in your own words, use in a sentence about your work.

  scaffold Word cards with photo + definition + example
• Pick one verb. Write a metacognitive sentence about what you will do this week with your expert topic.

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'I will ___ [verb] my topic by ___.'

• Write one sentence using two of the four verbs (research, paraphrase, summarize, classify).
• Name which verb you will use this week with your topic.

• Repeat each verb after the teacher.
• Predict: tomorrow we meet the description text-structure.

• Tonight, use one of the four verbs in a sentence with a family member about your topic. ('Mom, I researched octopuses today.' 'Dad, I will classify my facts tomorrow.') Notice if it feels natural to say.