Super Summarizing
Reading
to Learn
Rationale: The ultimate goal for reading is comprehension.
Readers need to be able to comprehend a text well enough to be able to
pull out the main idea and important details.
This technique is called summarizing. This lesson is designed to provide
a model of how to better comprehend a text by reading a text, picking out the
important items, eliminating the non-important items, and summing the main idea
up in their own words.
Materials: whiteboard, expo marker, copy of article for each child, paper,
pencils, assessment checklist, chart paper
Procedures:
1. Say: "As a class, we have been learning strategies and techniques that will
allow us to be expert readers. Another technique we are going to learn about is
called summarizing. Does anyone
know what that means? [allow students to discuss] A summary tells us the
important information of a text we have read without all the extra stuff.
When you summarize a text you use your own words to sum it up in order to
increase your understanding."
2. Say: "There are three really important parts of summarizing. First, we
delete, or take out, all of the unimportant information. We do this because some
information given in a text is just minor detail, and we only want the important
information. Second, we make sure to highlight the parts of the text we think
are important. Make sure to go back
over what you deleted so you can make sure you didn't take out anything really
important. Third, we put it all
together and sum up what the author is saying with the information given in the
text we have read. Let's see if everyone remembers. What was the first step?
Second? Third? [write each on the board so everyone can refer back to them] Good
job everyone!
3. Say: "Before we read the article individually, I want to go over some of the
words that will be used in the article." [Pick out words that the students may
not be familiar with. Have these words on chart paper and talk about what they
may mean. After discussing what the meaning could be, if the students do not
know explain the definition and write in on the paper. If they are familiar with
the words, still write the definition on the paper so they can reference it when
reading.]
4. Say: "Okay, class, it is time to put our skills to the test. Let's see if we
can remember the rules and use them to summarize our text. We are reading about
bats that live in Austin, Texas and fly out from a cave under a bridge all at
the same time. Let's read to find
out why they are in Texas and why they fly under the bridge."
5. Once the class has read the article, I will reread one paragraph from the
text and we will summarize it together. Say: "What are some things that we can
delete? What should we highlight? Now let's put it together in a sentence or two
in order to summarize what the author is saying here."
6. Say: "Now I want you to summarize the rest of the article on your own. The
three steps are written on the board if you get stuck and need a reminder of
what to do." The class will work individually on reading the article, deleting
unimportant information, highlighting important information, and summarizing the
article.
7. When students begin completing the assignment, I will have them come to me
one by one and explain to me the steps they took in summarizing the article in
order to assess their knowledge on the technique and if they can apply it.
8. References:
"Amazing Bats of Braken Cave". National
Geographic for Kids.
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/animalsnature/bat-cave/
Johnson, Ally. Super Summarizers.
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/invitations/johnsonrl.htm
Assessment Checklist:
Students Name: ______________
Date: __________
Yes No
___ ___
picked out the important information
___ ___
deleted the unimportant important
___ ___
understood the information
___ ___
wrote a sentence(s) summarizing the most important information