Summarization Time
Rationale: An important goal in reading is comprehension. To comprehend meanings of written text, students need to learn how to apply certain techniques in order to have a better understanding of what they are reading. Summarizing is one of the best techniques students can use because it helps them find meaning in what they are reading. This lesson is designed to teach children summarization steps, how to pull key points out of a story, and how to put those key points together to summarize the most important information in written text.
1. Begin by telling
the students the importance of summarizing what they read is to help
them
better understand the text. Say: Can anyone tell me what a summary is?
[no answer]
Well, a summary is picking out the main points in a story or passage.
For
example, I am going to tell you a short story, and I want you to listen
for the
important parts within the story. I once
had a puppy named
2. As a class, read the first four pages in Stellaluna aloud. The teacher will read
as the students follow along in their personal copies. After reading,
ask
questions in the form of who, what, when, where, and why. For instance,
Who is the main character in the book? What
is the biggest event so-far that has caused this character to be in a
problem?
Where did Stellaluna find herself? To show the students certain
points that
are unnecessary to know, ask questions about insignificant aspects of
the
story. For example, How long did
Stelluluna hang on the first branch? Or How did she land in the nest of
the
birds?
3. As a class, reread
the four pages and emphasize the six steps in summarization. Go through
each
page and model how the students can apply these steps. For instance,
have them
invent a topic sentence to summarize these pages of the story. They
might come
up with something like, “Stellaluna, who fell from her mothers arms
when a bat
attacked them, found herself in an unfamiliar nest of birds.”
4. Have the students
finish reading the rest of the book silently. Say: Now I want you to
start over
and read the entire book. Remember our six steps for summarization. I
want you
to just read for the MOST important facts that tell the story. When you
are
finished, you may reread the text or sit quietly until everyone else
finishes.
Please begin.
5. When all the students finish, have them pair up
into
partners. Say: Now I want you to get with a partner and discuss the key
points
within this story. As a team, you should come up with a list of what
you think
are the MOST important facts in this book. Remember to apply our steps,
and
keep it a short as possible without leaving out anything necessary to
understand what happened in this story.
6. Have the pairs of
students join with another pair to compare their summaries. Say: Find
another
pair of partners, and see what you came up with. Help each other apply
our
steps. You can add any information you left out at the bottom, or
delete
something you realized was not necessary to know.
7. Discuss the final
products as a class. Assess students by taking up the summaries. Make
sure to
tell the students to check their summaries for left out information or
unessential information. The summaries will be checked to see if the
students
comprehend summarization and have obtained the steps to summarize
stories or
events. When reviewing the summaries, I will look for evidence that the
students used the provided steps, and presented a completed summary
based on
the text Stelleluna.
References:
Cannon, Janell. Stellaluna.
(1993).
Pressley, Michael. “Strategies That Improve Children’s Memory and Comprehension of Text” The Elementary School Journal. Volume 90, number 1. pages 3-32. 1989.
Wallingsford, Darby.
(Spring 2003). “
Easy.” A Reading To Learn Lesson
Design created by Darby Wallingsford. Auburn
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