Rationale:
One of the most important things about teaching children to read is to make sure that they comprehend.  Comprehension is not automatic to all children; many need to be guided into learning how to comprehend.  This lesson helps to guide students with comprehending.

Materials:
Paper, pencils, science textbook,  summary of science selected reading

Procedures:

1) Ask the children to read silently from the first paragraph of their science textbook.  Remind the students that reading silently means that they should read to themselves, not out loud.
2) Tell the children that before they begin reading from the book, you would like them to read some questions on the board.  These questions should reflect what the children will be reading about.  They should be general at first and can become more specific as the students become more comfortable with the exercise.  Tell the students that they should think about the questions as they read.
3) When the children have finished reading ask them to think about whether or not they read about the answers to the questions on the board.
4) Put an example of a summary on the overhead projector.  Read it to the children and ask them if this is what they read about. Tell them that this is a summary of what they read.  It is a general, shortened version of what was read.
5) Ask the children to read the second paragraph and write their own summary.  They can take turns sharing these with the class when they are finished.

References:
Instruction in CTRD by Dr. Bruce Murray

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