Fishing
for a Summary
Summarization Lesson Plan
Rationale:
We have established
that the
ultimate goal of reading is comprehension. In order for a beginning
reader to
develop a strong sense of comprehension, it is useful to learn and
practice
summarization skills in order to identify and recall the main ideas in
a
particular passage. In order for students to express that they have
fully
comprehended a particular passage, they must be able to 'sum up' what
they have
read in their own words.
Materials:
One book mark with summarization tips on it per student:
Summarization tips (written on bookmarks)
1. Pick out important facts from the passage
2. Remove information that is not very useful, or that does not back up
the
topic sentences
3. Pick out repeated ideas and delete them.
4. Pick out a topic sentence (create one if one is not provided).
One copy of National Geographic's article "The Facts on Fish" by
Hallie Stiller per student (copies can be found at:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Stories/SpaceScience/Facts-on-fish
Pencil, highlighter
Paper
Procedures:
1. Who can tell me what the
word
comprehension means? Very good! To comprehend something means to
understand it.
At the beginning of the school year, we introduced the class rules, we
read
them, and we discussed them. After reviewing the rules, everyone signed
a sheet
that said they understood or comprehended the rules. The main goal of
reading
is to comprehend, or to understand the text.
2. Today, we are going to learn some
strategies that will help us comprehend text by learning how to
effectively
summarize! Let's begin by learning some important steps to
summarization.
3.
I will have created a
transparency of the article and will
use the overhead projector to model to students how to summarize.
4.
Follow along with me on your
paper as I highlight and cross
out on my own. We will practice this one together, and then everyone
will pick
their own national Geographic article to summarize.
5.
Read the passage along with the
students. Use your bookmark
to help you remember key tips to summarization. After reading the first
paragraph, ask students to read the 4 tips to themselves. "Now are
there
any important facts? Yes! Now let's highlight them." Highlight the
important facts in the first paragraph. "Now are there any facts we can
delete? Very good, cross those out with your pencil by drawing a line
through
them" (all the while, the teacher is doing the same things on the
overhead
along with the students.) "Are there any repeated ideas, mark those out
too? What about a topic sentence? Lets underline it." Point out to
students that generally the first sentence of a paragraph is a great
topic
sentence."
6.
Continue to finish the passage
in this manner, paragraph by
paragraph with the students
7.
When the class is done
identifying the important ideas,
create a short three sentence summary of the passage. Do this on the
board and
as a class.
Assessment:
In
order to asses
students, allow them to choose an article from National geographic Kids
on
their own to summarize. Have them print the article, and physically
cross out,
underline, and highlight the appropriate sentences. After they have
done this,
have students write a short paragraph summarizing the article in their
own
words. Students should turn in both article and summary to be
evaluated.
Evaluate the student's articles that they marked on by checking that
they
highlighted important information and that they crossed through facts
that did
not support the main sentences. Check that their summary includes all
of the
main ideas, and that they understand what information is important from
a
particular passage.
References:
“Summing it
up” by Laura Ashley Norman
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/voyages/normanrl.html
“Facts on
Fish” by Hallie Stiller
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Stories/SpaceScience/Facts-on-fish