Reading to Learn
Catch
those Butterfly
Facts!
Reading to Learn
Rationale:
One necessary goal of reading is
comprehension. When children approach the late elementary school years,
comprehension becomes significant to understanding text that is read.
The goal
of comprehension is to be able to read and study a text and recall it
later One way a student can attain comprehension is by using the
tool of
summarization. Summarization can be a very hard concept to grasp until
one is
taught the skill. In this lesson I will model and guide the class
through the 3
basic steps of summarization, which are: delete information that is not
important or repeated, highlight the important and necessary details by
using
key words or headings, and find a topic sentence that covers the main
idea and if
there is not a topic sentence than make one. I hope that as they
acquire these
rules then they will be able to comprehend any type of text.
Materials:
∙A class set of
the book, “The Butterfly Alphabet Book” by
Brian Cassie and Jerry Pallota.
Illustrated by Mark Astrella
∙2 pieces of
paper for each student
∙Pencils
∙Chalk
∙Chalkboard
∙A bookmark with
the 3 summarization rules:1) delete
information that is not important or repeated 2) highlight the
important and
necessary details by using key words or headings 3) and find a topic
sentence
that covers the main idea and if there is not a topic sentence than
make one
∙An enlarged
semantic map
Procedures:
1. Class,
today we are going to talk about comprehension?
Does anyone know what that means? I will
wait for responses. Great! That is correct. Comprehension is when
remember
what we read and being able to apply it after we are done. I want our
class to
become wonderful at comprehending so we are going to learn a few things
that
will make our reading easier to understand. One way to comprehend is by
using a
strategy called summarization. When we summarize, we are able to
concentrate on
the main parts of a text. To guide
or
summarization we are going to use the 3 steps and a story map.
2. Now I will
explain summarization. Before I start, I will
pass out the bookmarks. I will have them read aloud summarization on
the
bookmark so we can make sure we are all paying attention. 3 steps
help us
summarize our text so that we can remember what it says. These 3 steps
are:
I will have
already written these
on the board so that I can refer to them as we read them. You will also
have
this bookmark as a reference.
3. Now I
am going
to hold up a copy of the book. Class,
here I am passing out the book The Butterfly Alphabet Book. Before you think it’s childish, this book
goes from A-Z with butterflies and tells us information about each one. It also covers the Life-Cycle of the butterfly. I want you to read about each butterfly
silently. How do we read silently? I
will wait for their answers. That is correct when we read silently
we are
reading to ourselves. We don’t bother our neighbor we just read
to
ourselves and you may get in a comfortable position. I like to sit
crisscross
when I read like this.. I will now model how to read silently. I
will hold
the book in front of me and allow my eyes to follow the words. I also
might
read by moving my mouth to read the words but not make any sound. Class
this
is how I want you to read also. I want everyone to read the first 4
butterflies of this and the Life-cycle
on pages 12-13 and when you are finished I want you to put our head on
your
desk so that I can know you are done. Remember as you read you are
using your
steps of summarization. DO NOT rush
through, read for information.
4. As they
are
reading I will walk around the class. I
now see that everyone has their head on their desks so we are now
going to
use a semantic map to summarize the important information. Can
someone
tell me what the main topic is? I will wait for an answer and as
we talk
about this I will be using the enlarged semantic map. That is
correct the
main topic is Butterflies; so I am going to write in the circle in the
middle. I
will answer questions if there is any and write what they say. “Now
let’s
name the 4 butterflies you read. (I
will place each butterfly in circles coming from the center)? I want
important information. I did not ask or everything the horse did
throughout the
article, I just want key information. I will wait for
responses. Wonderful.
These are key words about these butterflies
so you are to write them branching off the circle to the
butterfly they
belong to. Can everyone see what I am doing? Now that we did the first
part
together I want you to expand on the lifecycle.
Then I want you to read the whole book. When you are finished
reading I
want you to make a semantic map and then use it to write a summary..
Remember
to keep only the important information. Refer to the board and your
bookmark if
you have questions. I will also be here to help if needed. I
will get
them to start and I will walk around to make sure that everyone is on
task.
5. For
assessment
I will take up their semantic map and
summaries of the book. I will also be walking around monitoring their
work. I
will be checking their work by using the bookmark to see if they have
the
correct information and see if they used their rules.
References:
*Cassie, B.
Pallota J. and Astrella M. “The Butterfly
Alphabet Book”, 1995
*Autrey, Sara.
Reading Genie Website. http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/constr/autreyrl.html
*Pressley,
Michael. et al. (1989). “Strategies that Improve
Children’s Memory and Comprehension of Text.” The Elementary Journal.
Vol. 90,
Number 1.
*Return to Inventions