Simple Steps, Sum it
Up!
Reading
to Learn
Rationale:
An important goal of reading is comprehension. One of the necessary strategies
of reading comprehension is summarizing. Students are able to pick out the main
points and important details when they summarize a text. In this lesson students
will learn the 4 steps of summarizing and practice them to recall information.
Materials:
Copies of National Geographic Online's
The Secret Language of Dolphins for each student. This article can be found
at:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/animalsnature/dolphin-language/
A bookmark for each student with the 3 summarization steps typed on it
Summarization steps:
1.
Pick out important details that are necessary to the story
2.
Pick out the less important ideas from the passage and delete them
3.
Pick a topic sentence
White board
Dry erase markers
Article from newspaper
Paper
Pencils
Procedures:
1.
"We have been practicing reading silently, in our heads, and we are going to do
that again today. Remember that
when we read silently we read the words with our eyes and not with our mouths.
Why is it good for us to read silently? Yes, that is correct. Reading silently
helps us remember what we read better. After we read silently, we are going to
learn how to summarize what we just read."
2.
Discuss with the students the steps to creating a summary of a story. "Can
anyone tell me what it means to summarize a story?" Allow time for children to
answers. When you summarize a story you pick out the most important and
meaningful parts of what you read."
3.
"There are 3 steps to creating a summary that you will learn today." Hand each
student a bookmark. "On this bookmark are the 4 steps to creating a summary and
I think it will be helpful to keep with you as you read silently.
The first step is to pick out the important details that are necessary to
the story. The second step is to pick out the least important details in the
story and delete them. The final step is to pick a topic sentence."
4.
"Now I am going model to you how to create a summary using an article from the
newspaper." Demonstrate on the board the steps of creating a summary with the
newspaper article. "I am going to ask myself questions like, what is the author
trying to tell me about the topic and what subject seems to be mentioned more
than once?"
5.
Pass out the The Secret Language of
Dolphins article for every student. "Today, we are going to read this
article about dolphins and summarize it. You will first read silently and then
work with a partner to create the summary." Give a brief introduction to the
article. "Before we begin reading, I want to first introduce a few vocabulary
words to you."
Vocabulary:
1. Mammal- a class of air-breathing animals that contain hair. 2. Nonverbally-
not involving or using words or speech. 3. Squawk- to make a loud, harsh noise.
4. Decipher- convert into a normal language. "Now that we have gone over our
vocabulary words, you may begin reading silently."
6.
After the students read, have them individually write down the important facts
from the article on a sheet of paper.
7.
Group the students into pairs to create the summary of the article. Review with
the students the 3 steps of creating a summary. Walk around the room to help the
students with questions and make sure they are staying on task.
8.
I will take up the summaries of the article and use them as an assessment for
the students' knowledge of summarization and comprehension of the article.
References:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/animalsnature/dolphin-language/
So What Are You Trying To Say Here? Leigh Anne Brace htttp://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/breakthroughs/bracerl.html
Summarizing the Good Stuff
. Whitni DeNamur.
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/explor/denamurrl.html