Prehistoric Summarizing
Reading to Learn
Rationale: The goal of reading is for students
to understand and comprehend what they read.
In this lesson, the students will learn how to summarize.
Summarization has 5 important steps:
delete unimportant
information, delete repeated information, substitute easy terms
for lists of items, substitute a series of events with one easy
action term, and select/invent a topic sentence.
In learning to summarize students will gain a tool to
help them improve reading comprehension.
Materials:
Dino Drama
Fuzzy was He?
(copies for each student)
Smart Board
Procedure:
1. Say: Does
any one know what a summary is? It is retelling the most
important parts of a reading.
You tell the reading in your own words.
It might sound different from someone else's but you will
learn the same information about the reading. Lets try some
together!
2.
When we summarize we need to remember 5 important things.
First we delete information that we don't need.
Next we take away information that is repeated.
Then we make lists of terms, and group several events
into one general event. The
last thing to do is make a topic sentence to start the summary.
Vocabulary:
Let's do a
review before we begin reading.
Prehistoric:
This means something very old that
lived a long time ago. Some
animals are prehistoric
Use: Dinosaurs
are a prehistoric animal, but dogs were bred later and are not
as old as dinosaurs.
Which sounds
prehistoric? An alligator or a cat?
Finish the
sentence:
prehistoric animals are … (possible ending) mainly
extinct but some are still alive today.
fossil
artifact
3.
Now I am going to show you how to make a summary. (done
on the smart board) First I am going to read my passage silently
to myself.
Then after that, I am going to go through and mark out
information that I don't need, that does not pertain to the man
idea of the story. I call that trivia. Is anything repeated?
(cross off with pen) Next I am going to circle the most
important things, and group them accordingly to simplify the
information.
Now I will make my topic sentence, and add my other
sentences to create a summary.
Achoo! We all sneeze sometimes.
Sneezing
is a reflex that your body does automatically. That
means you cannot make yourself sneeze or stop one once it
has started. When you sneeze, your body is trying to
get rid of
bad things in your nose, such as
bacteria. You have extra germs when you have a
cold, so you sneeze a lot more. You might also
sneeze when you smell pepper!
Everyone
sneezes.
It is an automatic reflex that protects bacteria from
getting into out body.
4.
Let's do it together! Read Dino Drama to
yourself. What do
you think we need to cross out? What seems important?
Is anything repeated? Can we group anything? What is a
good topic sentence? Lets
write this summary together.
5. Now lets see
if you can do it with out me! Every one has a passage about
"Fuzzy was He?" This article is about some new dinosaur fossils
that were found.
Could this be a new species that was discovered? Read and
find out! Read it to yourself and write a summary.
When you finish switch with a neighbor and check each
other's work.
Then please turn it in.
Assessment:
Students'
summaries will be assessed based off of the following rubric.
References:
Maggie McKinney, Wild Animal
Safari Summaries
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/adventures/mckinneyrl.htm
Dino Drama
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/reading-comp/4th-skeleton-key_WBDFZ.pdf
Fuzzy was He?
http://www.timeforkids.com/news/fuzzy-was-he/3532
Achoo!
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/reading-comp/4th-achoo_WBDRT.pdf