One Big Step with Summarization

Rationale: 

This is a lesson designed to teach children how to learn while reading. Comprehending the texts is a way to learn while reading. When comprehending a text a big skill is learning to summarize said text. A good way to summarize a text is by asking yourself two questions. “What am I reading about?” and “What is the main point of this text?” These two questions allow for readers to figure out the important points the author wrote and will make it easier for readers to summarize reading. 

 

Materials: 

• An individual copy of “Elephants” by Laura Marsh 

• A pencil and paper for each child

• Highlighters  

• Dry Erase Board and Marker 

• Summarization checklist 

• Comprehension sheet 

 

Procedures: 

1. ~say~ Alright class answer these questions for me in your head, have you ever read a book or saw something happen and wanted to tell them everything? When you told them did you tell them every single detail, or did you tell them just points that stood out to you? If you just told them important points you told them the summarization of what happened. A summarization is when you just cover the important parts of something.

2. ~say~ Now today that is what we will be working on, summarization. One way we can do this by doing the about-point format. This is when you ask yourself “What am I reading about? And “What is the main point of this text?”.  (write on board these questions) We will use the “umbrella” term that will help you find important points of the text. This is a term we find that defines the main points. But first we will need to answer the topic question, and the answer to these two questions will give you the topic sentence. 

3. ~say~ So say I read something about dogs, and it continues to talk about how they have wet noses, and they drool. And that is what the whole writing consists of, then I will see that I am reading about dogs and the main points are that they have wet noses and drool. So my topic sentence will be, Dogs have wet noses and drool. 

4. ~say~ Alright so tell me what is it called when elephants are in a group together? (let students answers) It’s called a herd right? So what exactly is a herd? A herd is a group of animals that live, eat, and travel together. There are several types of animals that travel in herds. Can you give me some examples? (let them give examples) Good examples guys!

5. ~say~ So now we will do something similar to what I did with the dog and on our own. So I will give you a copy of “African Elephants” where we will learn more about herds of elephants. and we will read a paragraph together and will use the about-point strategy. So let me pass them out (passes out copies of the article) I want each of you to write your names on the front of the article. Alright so I will call on someone to read us this first paragraph. (Calls on someone and lets them read it) Alright so what is the paragraph about? (Let’s student answer and writes it on board) Yes, it is about the trunk of an adult African elephant! Now I want you to highlight that in your article. Now what is some main points in this paragraph? (Let a couple students answer and write them as they talk on board) Good! They are that a trunks are seven feet, they are elongated noses and their upper lip, and what they use to smell. Highlight those for me. So now what would our topic sentence be? (Let students answer and write it on whiteboard) So we will write down Adult African Elephants have a trunk that is seven feet and serves as their upper lip, nose, and to smell. Good job guys! 

6. ~say~ So now I want you guys to read the rest of this article on your own. I want you to highlight what the paragraph is about and the main points within that paragraph. I also want you to get out paper and write down a topic sentence for each paragraph. (Let students begin to read while walking around to make sure they are doing work or if they have questions)

7. ~say~ Alright now that everyone is done with that assessment I want you to bring me your topic sentences. (Let them walk up one by one to give their assignment in) Alright now I will give you comprehension questions about what you read. Once you are done I want you to bring me your highlighted articles. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comprehension Questions:

1. What is this article about?

2. What type of diet does an elephant have? 

3. How much water can an elephant drink?

4. What do they do with their trunk to keep them cool?

5. What can the trunk grab?

6. What noise does the elephant make when they feel danger?

7. Are elephants sociable animals?

8. Why are elephants hunted? 

 

References:

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/african-elephant

Kaiser, Caroline. Summarization with Polar Bears. https://cmk0052.wixsite.com/mysite/learning-to-read