The development of summarizing skills in primary school children: first results of the research project “Today I summarize”

Journal title CADMO
Author/s Angela Piu, Silvia Testa, Cinzia Angelini, Martin Dodman, Anastasia Marini
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2025/2
Language Italian Pages 17 P. 36-52 File size 223 KB
DOI 10.3280/CAD2025-002003
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The article presents the initial results of the research project “Today I Summarize” within which a didactic pathway aimed at developing the abi-lity to summarize narrative texts was designed and tested. The conceptual framework guiding the study is based on the cognitive load theory and the 4C/ID model. The experimentation involved 30 students from two primary school classes, an experimental and a control one, at the “Luigi Pirandello” institute in Fonte Nuova (Rome) during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 scho-ol years. The results showed a significant improvement in the summarizing ability of the experimental group compared to the control group in the pro-duction of a summary, although there was no difference in the scores of the Summarizing Test. Future developments will include expanding the research to larger samples and educational contexts, with the aim of generalizing the findings and exploring the application of summarization skills in everyday and professional situations.

Keywords: summarizing ability, cognitive load, primary school, reading comprehension, cognitive processes.

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Angela Piu, Silvia Testa, Cinzia Angelini, Martin Dodman, Anastasia Marini, Sviluppo dell’abilità riassuntiva nei bambini della scuola primaria: primi risultati del progetto di ricerca “Oggi riassumo io” in "CADMO" 2/2025, pp 36-52, DOI: 10.3280/CAD2025-002003