Rationale
In order for students to understand what they are
reading,
they need to have certain ways to organize all the information they are
obtaining.
For a child to
succeed in comprehension, they need to know how to summarize passages
they
have read. This lesson will help students understand and apply
the
strategy of summarizing as they
highlight
important facts while reading.
Materials
1 printed copy of National Geographic article per
student
(see Nyquist link below for article), 1 copy of "Jupiter" passage for
teacher
(see step #2), highlighters, black marker, lined
paper,
pencil, chalk, chalkboard, evaluation checklist (for assessment)
Evaluation Checklist for Assessment (categories
include
but are not limited to):
A) Formulates a topic
sentence
yes no yes, but not factual
B) Focus on main
ideas/facts
yes no
C) Eliminates unimportant
details
yes no
D) Other comments:
Procedure
1. Begin the
lesson
by introducing the concept of summarization. DOES ANYONE
KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO SUMMARIZE WHAT YOU
READ? THAT'S RIGHT. WHEN WE SUMMARIZE,
WE
CHOOSE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN THE PASSAGE WE ARE READING IN
ORDER TO FORM A MAIN IDEA ABOUT THE TEXT. AT
THE
SAME TIME, WE ELIMINATE LESS IMPORTANT DETAILS THAT DO
NOT HELP US UNDERSTAND THE MAIN IDEA. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO
KNOW
HOW TO SUMMARIZE WHAT WE READ
BECAUSE IT
HELPS
US UNDERSTAND OR COMPREHEND BETTER.
2. Now model how to
summarize
text. TODAY WE ARE GOING TO BE READING SOME PASSAGES SILENTLY AND
SUMMARIZING
THEM AFTER WE READ. DOES EVERYONE REMEMBER HOW TO READ
SILENTLY?
GREAT! WHEN WE READ SILENTLY, WE DO NOT
SAY THE WORDS ALOUD. WE USE ONLY OUR EYES TO READ THE TEXT AND
OUR
MOUTHS SHOULD BE CLOSED AND QUIET. WHEN YOU
SILENT
READ, NO ONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO HEAR YOU OR KNOW THAT YOU ARE
READING.
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY
QUESTIONS? Allow time for students to ask
questions.
NOW THAT WE REMEMBER HOW TO READ SILENTLY, I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU
HOW TO SUMMARIZE AFTER YOU READ. AS I READ
THIS
PASSAGE ABOUT JUPITER, I WANT YOU ALL TO LISTEN FOR THINGS THAT
YOU THINK MIGHT BE IMPORTANT FACTS. Read the passage about
Jupiter
aloud: "Jupiter isn't just the largest planet in the solar
system.
It also has the most moons. There are 61 that
we
know about—and there may be even more!" DID ANYONE HEAR AN
IMPORTANT
FACT AS I READ? Allow
students to name important facts and write them on the chalkboard.
Once
all the facts have been identified, create a brief summary or topic
sentence
about
Jupiter. IN SUMMARIZING THIS PASSAGE, I AM GOING TO TAKE ALL
THESE
IMPORTANT FACTS AND COMBINE THEM INTO A
SHORTER
SENTENCE.
JUPITER, THE LARGEST PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM, HAS AT LEAST 61
MOONS,
WHICH IS MORE THAN
ANY OTHER PLANET. SEE HOW I ONLY USED THE FACTS TO CREATE A
SUMMARY?
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO BE DOING
TODAY.
3. Hand out the
National
Geographic article to each student. EACH OF YOU HAS A COPY OF THE
ARTICLE
ABOUT SPACE AND
CONSTELLATIONS. I WANT YOU TO SILENTLY READ THE FIRST FOUR
PARAGRAPHS
ABOUT BIG BEAR AND LITTLE BEAR (THE
CONSTELLATIONS WE HAVE BEEN
STUDYING).
STOP READING WHEN YOU GET TO THE PARAGRAPH ABOUT GALILEO.
AS
YOU READ, PAY ATTENTION TO ANY IMPORTANT FACTS THAT
MIGHT
HELP US SUMMARIZE THE ARTICLE LATER. WHEN YOU
HAVE FINISHED READING, PUT YOUR HEAD DOWN. WE
HAVE
JUST REVIEWED HOW TO READ SILENTLY SO I WANT TO SEE
EVERYONE
DOING THIS. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY, BEGIN
READING.
Give ample time for the students to read the article and
assure that each child's head is
down
before proceeding with the lesson.
4. NOW WE ARE GOING TO SUMMARIZE
WHAT
WE JUST READ. WE ARE GOING TO FIND ALL THE MAIN POINTS OF THE
TEXT
AND TAKE OUT
ALL
THE INFORMATION THAT WE DO NOT NEED SO THAT WE WILL HAVE A SHORTER
VERSION
OF THE
PASSAGE.
Hand
out 1 highlighter and one black marker to each student. I WANT
YOU
TO RE-READ THE PASSAGE AND HIGHLIGHT ONLY THE
MAIN IDEAS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Discuss each of these facts
with
the students after they have finished highlighting. WHAT FACTS
DID
YOU HIGHLIGHT? GOOD JOB. THAT'S VERY
IMPORTANT.
Allow time for several facts to be named. Next have students mark
through
the
unimportant information with a marker. NOW I
WANT
YOU TO GO BACK AND MARK THROUGH ALL THE OTHER INFORMATION THAT IS
NOT AS IMPORTANT USING YOUR BLACK
MARKER.
THIS IS THE INFORMATION THAT IS NOT USEFUL FOR OUR SUMMARY.
5. Once the students have
highlighted
all the important facts in the story and marked
through
the unimportant facts, have the students write what is left on a
blank sheet of paper. NOW I
WANT
YOU TO RE-WRITE THE IDEAS IN SENTENCES THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED ONTO A
BLANK
SHEET OF
PAPER.
COMBINE THE HIGHLIGHTED FACTS TO FORM A SUMMARY OF THE PASSAGE.
MAKE
SURE TO LEAVE OUT ALL THE
SENTENCES THAT YOU MARKED THROUGH WITH THE BLACK MARKER. WHEN YOU
ARE
FINISHED WITH THE SUMMARY, YOU
MAY PUT YOUR PENCIL DOWN AND READ OTHER PARTS OF THE ARTICLE THAT
INTEREST
YOU. When everyone has completed their
summary, allow a few students to read their
summaries
to the class. LISTEN CAREFULLY AS THESE STUDENTS READ THEIR
SUMMARIES
TO FIND OUT IF
THEY
MARKED OUT THE SAME INFORMATION THAT YOU DID. Each of the
students'
summaries should sound similar.
Assessment
Instruct the children to read the two paragraphs in
the
National Geographic article discussing Galileo. After they read,
the
students will individually create a
summary of the passage and write
it
on a blank sheet of paper. This will be turned in to the teacher
for
assessment using the evaluation checklist.
References
Kanute, Jenn. "Keep it Short."
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/elucid/kanuterl.html
Pressley, M., Johnson, C.J., Symons, S., McGoldrick, J.A., &Kurity,
J.A.
(1989). Strategies that improve children's memory and
comprehension
of text. The Elementary School Journal, 90, 3-32.
Nyquist, Kate Boehm. (2002). Exploring Space.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/readingexpeds/WE41264.html
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