Summarizing with "Read, Write and, er, Why?"
Reading to Learn
Rationale:
The driving force behind reading is
comprehension. One particular skill that assists in accomplishing this
goal is summarization. Once students can recall and communicate the
main ideas of the selections read, comprehension becomes easier, as
they gain practice in the skill of plucking out the most important
information from their reading.
In this lesson students will use summarization tips to help
them identify and communicate main ideas and summarize an expository
text by following summarization tips during a reading. In this case, a
non-fiction article "The Star-Spangled Banner" from
www.americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/symbolsofanewnation/aspx.
Materials:
One bookmark per student with summarization tips on it:
1.
Pick out important facts supported from the text.
2. Omit information that is not essential to the main
topic.
3.
Leave out repeated/redundant ideas
4. Choose a topic sentence that relates to the main idea.
If there is not one, make one of your own
based on your supported details from the text.
A transparency of the article, or a document camera to display the
article
Copies of the article can be found
at: Smithsonian Kids:
http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/symbols-of-a-new-nation.aspx
Access to a computer or additional articles for each student
Pencil and highlighter
Paper
Procedure:
1.
Who can tell me what our goal of reading is?
To memorize what we read or to understand
it?
That's right- we read to understand, or
comprehend what it is the author is trying to tell us!
One way we can read with comprehension is
to summarize the texts that we read.
When we do this, we are taking the most
important ideas from the selections and tie it to the main point.
3.
Now that we know to have our main ideas
highlighted, and our extraneous, or unnecessary ideas crossed out, we
will need to sum up the supporting details in a topic sentence, just
like our bookmarkers tell us to.
4.
So let's find out what we are reading about
today.
We are reading about the importance of the
American Flag during the War of Independence.
Everyone look at your article and let's
read it together and use some of the skills we can use to understand
this article.
5. I will read the first paragraph out loud (display the article for a
visual reference). Listen to how I chose the most important parts of
the passage, and listen for how I ask myself if the detail is important
or not:
"The American flag did not play a major role in the War
of Independence.
Most of the myths about the flag's importance during the
Revolution--including the famous tale of Betsy Ross sewing the first
flag for General Washington--emerged much later, after the
Star-Spangled Banner had become the nation's most significant and
cherished icon.
At the time the American flag was created, it did not attract much
attention from the general public;
its primary function was to identify ships and forts.
Ordinary
Americans in the Revolutionary era turned to a variety
of other symbols--the eagle, Lady liberty, George
Washington--
to express their patriotism and define their national
identity."
-Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Unlike we most people think, the
American flag did not play such an important role in the War of
Independence.
I think that may be an important idea,
since the paragraph begins with that statement. I will highlight that
one.
"At the time, the American flag was
created��� it did not attract much attention."
Is that redundant?
I think that statement is said in the first
line.
Can I omit that?
I think so- I am going to cross that out
with my pencil.
What about "Its primary function was to identify
ships and forts?"
I think that is a significant fact, so I had
better highlight that.
It says here in the last sentence that
there were other symbols people used to express their patriotism.
Do I think that is important?
I think so. So basically, I have these
supporting ideas:
1) The American flag and its myths did not play so
much of an important role in the War of Independence as previously
thought.
2) In fact, it was mainly used for
identification of American ships and forts.
3) Many symbols were in fact used during
the time of the war.
Why?
We found out from the text that it was to
express their patriotism.
These are my main ideas.
What does our bookmarker say to do next?
6.
Yes, that's right.
We need to sum it up in a topic sentence.
Could we say, in general, there were many
American symbols as well as the American Flag used during War of
Independence?
I think that is a general statement that
can be supported by our facts in the text.
Let's write that down on our paper.
7. After modeling the
first paragraph, I would have the students continue throughout the
article, then write a short summary telling what the article is about.
Of course, I could read my example out loud, as well as anyone else who
would like to share, so long as they followed the guidelines of
summarizing for comprehension.
8. Once finished, ask a few comprehension questions such as:
"If the American flag wasn't that
important during the war, why did they use it later?
What did it mean afterward?" and "Why are
symbols of liberty inspiring to everyday Americans of the present?"
9.
Now it is your turn to challenge yourself.
Reading expository, or non-fiction articles
and books is challenging because you have to "sift out" the important
details from the extra details.
I think you have a good idea about what to
do, but of course, if you get confused, follow your bookmark as a
reference.
For homework, I would like for you to find
an article much like the one we read in class today on
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/students, print it out, and bring it to class tomorrow.
10.
(Next day) Now that you have your article,
read it to yourself silently and practice using your summarization
tips. Remember to highlight, cross-out, or underline. When you are
finished, write a short paragraph summarizing the article in your own
words. Use your bookmark checklist for reference.
Also, ask yourself "Why" when choosing your
main ideas. (review strategy with the example).
Assessment:
Have the students turn in the
article and the summary. Check the article to see if they highlighted
key points, underlined the main idea, and crossed-out unimportant
details. Check that the summary has main ideas to determine if they
understood what the main points of the article were based on their
choice of main ideas, and topic sentence.
References:
The Star Spangled Banner: http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/symbols-of-a-new-nation.aspxhttp://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/masonrl.html
"Summarize with Cow Pies" by Julie Mason http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/masonrl.html