That Sums It All Up!

That Sums It All Up!

Rationale: As children begin to read silently, it is important that they are able to comprehend, and make sense of the text that they have read. Within this lesson, students will learn how to read silently, highlight the main points within a story, and summarize those points into a brief paragraph.

Materials: Paper, pencil, dry erase marker, one copy of ãAudrey Takes Her Timeä, and a copy for each student of ãReady, Set·Flopä. Both articles are featured in the March 2004 issue of Highlights.

Procedure:

WHO CAN REMIND ALL OF US WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT LAST WEEK? YES! SILENT READING. WHAT IS SILENT READING? Take answers. THATâS RIGHT! WHEN WE READ SILENTLY, WE DONâT SAY THE WORDS OUT LOUD÷BUT WE SAY THEM INSIDE OF OUR HEADS. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME IF THIS SILENT READING? Demonstrate reading while moving my lips with no vocal sound. THAT IS SILENT READING. SOMETIMES IT HELPS US TO MOVE OUR MOUTHS EVEN IF WE ARENâT MAKING ANY SOUND, RIGHT? LETâS MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ALL PRACTICING OUR SILENT READING SKILLS TODAY, OK?
HAVE ANY OF YOU EVER READ A BOOK AND THEN TOLD SOMEONE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BOOK? WHEN YOU DID THAT, DID YOU TELL EVERY SINGLE LITTLE DETAIL IN THE BOOK AND WHAT EVERY SENTENCE SAID? Take examples or comments. NO, YOU DIDNâT÷BECAUSE THAT WOULD TAKE A LONG TIME RIGHT? WHEN YOU TOLD THE STORY AGAIN, YOU WERE GIVING A SUMMARY OF THE BOOK. YOU TOOK THE IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE STORY TO MAKE THE STORY SHORTER, BUT IT WAS STILL THE SAME STORY, RIGHT? TODAY, WE ARE GOING TO LEARN HOW TO WRITE SUMMARIES OF STORIES.
EVERYONE CLEAR YOUR DESK EXCEPT FOR YOU DRY ERASE MARKER AND LISTEN CAREFULLY WHILE I READ YOU AN ARTICLE. I AM GOING TO READ IT ALOUD AND I WANT YOU TO LISTEN FOR IMPORTANT EVENTS OR FACTS THROUGHOUT THE STORY. I will read ãAubrey Takes Her Timeä aloud to the group.
NOW I WANT YOU TO WRITE THE NAME OF THE STORY (AUBREY TAKES HER TIME) IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR DESK AND CIRCLE IT WITH YOUR DRY ERASE MARKER. WE ARE GOING TO MAKE A STORY MAP OF IMPORTANT EVENTS THAT WE HEARD IN THE STORY. WRITE DOWN ANY FACT THAT YOU FELT WAS IMPORTANT TO THE STORY AND CIRCLE IT, CONNECTING IT TO THE TITLE BUBBLE. EACH FACT THAT YOU WRITE DOWN SHOULD CONNECT TO THE TITLE BUBBLE AND BE VERY IMPORTANT IN ORDER FOR THE STORY TO MAKE SENSE. We will review their story maps and discuss if each idea was important enough to be written down, and why or why not.
Next, I will pass out a copy of ãReady, Set·Flopä to each student. I WANT EACH OF YOU TO READ THIS ARTICLE SILENTLY AND MAKE A STORY MAP ABOUT IT ON A SHEET OF NOTEBOOK PAPER. WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED WITH YOUR STORY MAP, USE THAT INFORMATION TO WRITE A SUMMARY, WHICH SHOULD BE ABOUT A PARAGRAPH LONG.

Assessment:

I will collect the studentsâ story map and paragraph summary in order to evaluate their understanding of the concept of summarization.

References:

Teaching Summarizing.
http://teachers.net/mentors/4blocks/topic4647/1.25.04.15.50.37.html

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