Allison Price

Chunking
Chunking is a way to break difficult information into smaller, more manageable parts. Once the
information is chunked, the students paraphrase each chunk using their own words which helps
the students organize the information, identify key words and ideas, and provides a simple way
to synthesize the information.

How to use
1. Prepare Materials

If chunking text for students, teacher needs to complete the chunking ahead of time. If the
student will be chunking the information on their own, then the teacher only needs to prepare the
information. It is also a good idea to provide students with graphic organizers that they can use to
input their information from each chunk. Any graphic organizers should be prepared ahead of
time.

2. Review Reading Strategies

Before the students begin chunking or paraphrasing, the teacher should discuss the strategies the
students know when completing the given assignment. Provide a list of these strategies the
students can use somewhere where they will be able to see them.

3. Break the Information into Chunks

Students will use their pencil to mark sections of the reading in an amount that is most
manageable for their reading skill. Students can also use chunking outside of reading and can
chunk numbers/steps in math or science. The students can mark their chunks with lines across,
boxes, or brackets, whichever is easier for the student to see. The teacher will need to model how
to do this until the students have mastered it.

4. Summarize the Information

Students will look at one chunk at a time and paraphrase the information inside of the chunk (for
reading) or complete each step in the chunk (math or science). If paraphrasing text while reading,
it needs to be done in the student’s own words. Doing this will help the students better synthesize
what they are reading or to master one step before moving on.

When to use
● When students are reading a passage
● When students are reading during a test
● When students are struggling with comprehension
● When students are struggling with steps in math or science
Allison Price

● When students struggle with the intimidation from a large amount of content

Variations
Jigsaw Chunking

Students will chunk longer text into sections but the students will work in groups to paraphrase/
complete one of the chunks. When the students have completed their chunk, then the groups will
come together and put their information together, discussing their section, or by giving
presentations.

Paragraph Shrinking

In order to help students find the main idea of a paragraph, the teacher would have the students
summarize what the meaning of the paragraph is using ten words or less. Students can be paired
up and they will take turns being the player and the coach. The player will read until the time is
out, stopping to summarize each paragraph in ten words or less while the coach skims back over
the reading passage to check if the players summary was accurate.

Create a Visual

Instead of the student paraphrasing a section, the student would create a symbol or illustration
that represents the section they just read. This helps with student comprehension of reading and
helps the student retain the information.