Rationale: One of the most
important goals
students should learn is reading comprehension. Without
comprehension,
students will not remember what they just read, thus making reading
pointless. Summarization is an example of a comprehension
strategy.
Summarization means to take important ideas out of a passage.
This lesson
will teach students how to summarize articles from National
Geographic Kids
Website. By having students watch a model summarization of "Shark
Tales" and using the chart created, students will be able to summarize
a
small section of the articles that will be passed out at the end of the
lesson.
Materials:
Copy of "Shark
Tales"
for each student
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0505/articles/mainarticle.html
Poster with the
summarizing
rules printed on it (get rid of unnecessary information, pick
out the most important information, write a
sentence that
covers everything this
important information).
Paper for each
student
Pencils for each
student
Chalkboard
Articles for
students (same
article per 4 children- students will receive their own copy:
“Bug
Battles,” “Odd Couples,” “Viking Voyages,” and
“On the Menu”
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0605/articles/mainarticle.html
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0601/articles/mainarticle.html
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0511/articles/mainarticle.html
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0503/articles/mainarticle.html
Checklist
for assessment purposes
|
Did the student: |
Yes: |
No: |
|
get rid of unecessary information |
|
|
|
pick out the most important information |
|
|
|
write a sentence that covers all of the important information |
|
|
Procedure:
1. I will
start off the
lesson by explaining why we are learning how to summarize. “Today
we are going to learn a reading skill called summarization. When
you
summarize something, you take the main ideas out of a passage. It
is
important to learn how to summarize because it helps us understand what
we
read.”
2. Before
starting the
summarization lesson, I will review silent reading. “When reading
the passages I am about to hand to you, please read them to
yourselves.
This means you read the words in your head and not out loud.”
3. I will
give book talk
about the article we are about to read as a class. “Today we are
going to learn about sharks. How many of you have ever seen a
shark? Wow, that’s a lot of you. Well, sharks are often
thought
of as scary creatures, but in reality they are more afraid of humans
than we
are of them. Sharks are hunted for their skeletons. Many of
the
shark species are endangered. We will have to read the article to
learn
more about sharks.”
4. Next, I
will pass out
the “Shark Tales” article for everyone. “We are going
to learn how to summarize reading passages using this article. I
am going
to model how to summarize the first passage in this article.
Everyone
should pay attention to this poster (the summarization rules poster
will be
hanging on the blackboard). I want everyone to read the first
three
sentences in the section of the titled “Shark Hunts.” Read
this silently to yourselves. Look at the board when you are
finished.” (the sentences are as
followed:
Each year, humans kill 60 million sharks. A
key reason
is to get shark cartilage. That soft,
flexible material that makes up a sharks
skeleton).
The sentences are written on the board.
5. Model to
the students
how to summarize this passage. “OK, now that everyone is finished
reading the passage, I am going to teach you how to summarize this
passage. The first step is to get rid of unnecessary
information. I will cross off “that soft, flexible
material that makes up shark skeleton. Next, I will look for the
important information the author has given us. I think that “humans kill 60 million sharks a year” is
important and
so is “a key reason is to get shark cartilage.” I now am
going to create a sentence that summarizes these three sentences.
Humans
kill sharks every year for their cartilage.”
6. Pass out
the other
articles to the students. These articles are also divided into
little
sections. Allow the students to choose their own subsection to
summarize. “I am going to pass out 4 different articles. I
would like each of you to pick a subsection like I did with the “Shark
Hunts” section. I will give you all 15 minutes to read your
section
silently and I want you to write your own summarization. I am
going to tell
you all a little something about each article. In “Bug
Battles” we get to learn about katydids and mantids.
They are both kinds of insects. The article tells us how they
hunt for
food, what they look like, and even what their bodies are made
of! So we
will have to read on to find out more about katydids and mantids!
In “Odd Couples,” we will learn about some unlikely animal pairings
in the wild. The article explains why some animals work together
such as
cleaning, for food, and just for having fun. We will have to read
more of
this articles to find out more about
unlikely animal
pairs. In “Viking Voyages,” we will learn about an ancient
group called the Vikings. This group were
sailors, farmers, and craftsmen. We will have to read on to find
out what
life was like over 1,000 years ago! “Finally, in the “On the
Menu” article, we will learn about how animals escape predators.
Some animals hide, while others have things on their bodies to protect
them
from predators. We will have to read the article to find out how
other
animals protect themselves from predators.”
Assessment: Students
will be
assessed by the summarization sentences they write on the articles they
have
read. I will use a checklist to assess their progress. The
checklist will include the rules listed on the chart used in
class.
Students will receive a check for each rule they follow. Students
are
required to earn at least 2 out of the 3 checks possible. This will
allow me to
see which students understood my model and which ones I need to work
with a
little more.
References:
Barraclough, Lauren:
“It’s Time to Sum It All Up”
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/invent/barrowcloughrl.html
Kasl, Megan:
“Tell Me About It”
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/invent/kaslrl.html
Articles found at
National
Geographic Kids Website:
example website:
“Shark Tales:” http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0505/articles/mainarticle.html
student articles:
“Bug
Battles:” http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0605/articles/mainarticle.html
“Odd Couples:”
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0601/articles/mainarticle.html
“Viking
Voyages:”
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0511/articles/mainarticle.html
“On the Menu:”
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0503/articles/mainarticle.html