Madagascar-Simply Summarized
Learning
to Read
Rationale:
One very important goal
in skillful reading is
comprehension. It is important to teach children the strategies
involved in
achieving reading comprehension. One of these necessary strategies is
summarization.
This is helpful when students begin to read informational or expository
text in
which they are to comprehend and recall new information. This lesson
will give
students the steps necessary to independently organize and simplify
information
in text for comprehension through summarization.
Materials:
Paper and Pencil
for each student
Chalkboard and
Chalk
The following
steps written on the board:
1) Delete trivial
information
2) Delete
repeated information
3) Replace lists
with easier descriptions or terms
4) Select or
invent a topic sentence
Copies of "
Article available
at:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/kids/2005/04/madagascar.html
Procedures:
1.
Introduce the lesson. “Today class I would
like to discuss a new reading strategy called summarization. This
strategy is
effective in successful reading comprehension. Since we have discussed
comprehension I would like for someone to raise their hand and recall
what we
have learned about comprehension.” Wait for students to answer and
respond.
“That is all great; Comprehension is to read and understand the text.”
Summarization is very important because it allows us to pick out
information
that is important in text. I would like for us to practice together
picking out
the most important information we can find in an expository
(informational)
text.”
2. “There are a few simple steps on the board that I would like
everyone to copy
down on a sheet of paper to use as your own checklist.” Write the
following
steps on the board and wait
for the students to copy them prior to discussion:
1) Delete trivial
information
2) Delete repeated information
3) Replace lists with easier
descriptions or terms
4) Select or invent a topic sentence
3. When the class has
finished copying
the steps, have them read each step aloud, and ask if there are any
questions
in understanding the meaning of the text.
4. It
is now important to model how to use these strategies. Pass out one
copy of "
5. Model by saying,
“Now that
we have all read silently, I am going to think aloud and go through my
summarization steps. The first step is to delete unimportant
information. I did
not find any nor do I see any repeated information just yet. I can now
move on.
I also do not have a list of any kind in this section. I do however
need to
look for a topic sentence. So far I believe the most important sentence
I have
read is: About 80 percent of the plants and animals on the
island are
found nowhere else on Earth. This
will be my topic sentence. Since the sections are short, often one
sentence is
sufficient information.”
6. Ask the students to
silently read the
article and use their checklist to summarize the information and write
it on a
sheet of paper. “Once you are finished with your summarization, you may
quietly
look nearby for another person who is finished and share your completed
summaries with one another.” Walk around and glance at the topic
sentences
being written and provide help if needed.
7. Once everyone
is complete the students
can volunteer to come and share with the class what they found to be
the main
ideas of the article. Help them to walk through their thought process
using the
steps as a checklist.
Assessment:
I will collect
the students work and use a check list for determining if the student
has a
good grasp on summarizing while reading expository text.
Checklist-
Is
there any unimportant or repeated information found within their
summary?
Are
any list simplified?
Has the student located or created a meaningful
topic
sentence?
Pressley,
M., Johnson, C. J., Symons, S., McGoldrick, J. A., & Kurity, J. A.
(1998). Strategies that improve children’s memory and
comprehension of
text. The Elementary School Journal, 90, 3-32
Lovgren,
Stefan. "
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/kids/2005/04/madagascar.html
Conway, Kelby. Super Summaries.
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/connect/conwayrl.html
Click
here to
return to Constructions.