Reading to Learn
Learning to Summarize
Rationale:
The main reason people learn to read is to comprehend what they are reading. To be able to comprehend a person must come up with a way to obtain all the information they have read. In this lesson I am going to teach story mapping. Through story mapping a child can learn how to summarize the important facts in a story.
Materials:
paper and pencil for each student, chalk, the article ãPenguins at the Beachä, examples of different main ideas from the article ãA Dramatic Atmosphereä
Procedures:
1. I will start of by telling the children how important it is to understand
what they read. I will tell them that there is an easy way to help
them accomplish this task called a story map.
2. First class I would like you to read the article ãA Dramatic
Atmosphereä silently at your desks. Does everyone remember how
to read silently? If not, remember that we start off reading
with our normal voices and then get quieter and quieter until no one else
can hear us.
3. Now I will explain to the students how to make a story map.
First we will write the title of the article in the middle of the page.
Now we are going to put a box around the title. Now we are going
to look through our article and find several main ideas or important information.
4. After several minutes I will then draw my own story map on the board.
Next I will write one example that I have found on the board with a circle
around it that branches of the boxed title. Then I will ask the class
to tell me some of their main ideas that they have found. I will
then write the ideas on the board and let the students use my ideas and
write their own ideas on their story maps.
5. I will then give the students the article ãPenguins at the
Beachä and tell them to get with a partner and find four main ideas.
6. For assessment the students will then go back to their seats and
create their very own story map with the ideas they got with their partners
and their own ideas.
References:
Pressley, Michael. ãStrategies the Improve Childrenâs
Memory and Comprehension of Text.ä The Elementary School Journal.
Vol 90. Num. 1. The University of Chicago. 1989. p. 3-27.
Wurst, Douglas. ãA Dramatic Atmosphere Unit.ä
The Good Apple Magazine. March ö April 2002. Mcgraw- Hill
Childrenâs Publishing. P. 8-9
Evvans, Nancy. ãPenguins at the Beach.ä Ranger
Rick. January 2002. National Wildlife Federation. P.
18-20.
Http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/elucid/nungesserrl. html