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Reading to Learn Design

LEAP INTO SUMMARIZATION 

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Rationale:

The ultimate goal of reading is the reader’s comprehension. In order to comprehend text it is necessary for students to learn effective strategies that they can use when they are reading independently. Comprehension and recall skills are very essential elements of a reading program. A skilled reader is never able to recall all of the details of a text, but through the use of summarization strategies the text can be slimmed down and the most important information is remembered. This lesson will assist students to summarize and comprehend what they read. Students will practice silent reading and the strategy of summarizing using graphic organizers and a checklist. The lesson will help students learn to summarize by teaching readers to delete unimportant or repeated information to allow focus on the imperative parts of a text.  After the lesson, they will be able to effectively comprehend text by using the summarization strategy in their independent reading. 

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Materials:

 

Pencil 

Paper

Dry erase marker

Dry eraser 

Desk journal 

Dictionary

      - White Board with sentences and definition of word written on it:

Definition, Amphibian: Animals that are born in the water with gills and when they grow up they are able to live on the land and breathe air.

“Frogs eat almost anything that moves and can fit into their mouths”

“Some frogs seek out their food”

“Frogs sometimes travel more than eight miles to a pond, lake, or puddle”

Books about frogs 

  • Frogs by Nic Bishop

  • Frogs, Toads, and Turtles by: Diane Burns

  • Frogs, National Geographic’s Kids

Graphic Organizer (Can have more columns depending on what they summarize)

 

MAIN IDEA- 

 

Column 1-

 

Column 2-

 

Procedures:

 

1.  Say: “When we read, the most important thing is to understand what it is that we are reading. There is no point in reading a story if we are just reading the words without knowing what is going on, that’d be super silly! Comprehending helps us to understand what is going on in a story, or to learn important information from what we read. We are going to practice reading and then telling what we learned from the story. Summarizing is a strategy you can use on your own to help you comprehend or understand what you are reading.”

 

2.  Say: “I am going to read the book Frogs out loud and then I am going to read silently.  I want you to pay close attention to the differences in these sentences. “Frogs eat almost anything that moves and can fit into their mouths.” “Some frogs seek out their food.” “Frogs sometimes travel more than eight miles to a pond, lake, or puddle” (read the sentences out loud then silently to model by paraphrasing to show I understood what I read).  Now “let's all read the sentence on the board and tell what we learned from this sentence…good”(Cover up the other sentences as you read each one).

 

3.  Say: “When we summarize the sentences we are reading there are three things that are important to keep in mind that will be helpful.  First, we should leave out unimportant and repeated information. Say it with me, “leave out unimportant and repeated information”.  Second, we should always state the important events and ideas.  The third thing to remember is that we should write a topic sentence that states the author’s main idea.  The three things will help you to write a summary. Go ahead and write these three things down in your desk journal.   I want everyone to get out the article on your desk- Frogs, National Geographic’s Kids , it is an article we looked at yesterday. I want everyone to read this silently then we are going to complete a worksheet together that will organize your thoughts and write a class summary.  When you read to yourself, think about what information is unimportant and repeated. You also have a sheet that has different sections on it. First, put repeated and unimportant information in column 1, important events and ideas in column 2, and when you finish, try to come up with the author’s main idea and write it at the top where it says main idea.  If there is important information write it in the columns and if it is not important and repeated in the story I want you to leave it out! Now everyone reads the sentences in your article silently paying close attention then we will go over it together.”

* Give the students time to read the story to them silently. After doing so have them complete the organizer and create a summary as a class led by the teacher. 

 

4.  Say: “Now we are going to read the book Frogs by Nic Bishop. We are going to learn a new vocabulary word that is ‘amphibian’.” 

Ask the students if they know what that word is. Ask if anyone agrees with them or if anyone else has an idea. Then go over the definition from the class dictionary. “It is a type of animal that usually has gills and lives in the water when it is young, and breathes air and lives on land when it becomes an adult.” Use it in a sentence, “Amphibians are animals such as frogs and turtles that live near the water.” See if the students can come up with their own sentence using the word amphibian. Before the students read the text ask them questions about what is going to happen in the story. Give a book-talk to get the students engaged and ready to listen. Then ask the students to get their books out and read them silently. I want you to use the handout I gave you with three columns that will help classify the three reminders about summarizing.  As you read I want you to think about what you are reading. (Chart is at top in materials) Then put repeated and unimportant information in column 1, important events and ideas in column 2, and when you finish try to come up with the author’s main idea and write it at the top where it says main idea. After you have done this I want you to get with a partner and go over your ideas. (Give the students a few minutes, and then go over answers with the whole class getting answers from everyone in the class).

 

5.   Say: “Now everyone open their desk journal again.  With a partner I want you to think about a few sentences that you can write that describe and summarize the book you just read. You can use the sheet with the columns on it to help if needed. Start with a topic sentence that states the author’s main idea.  When both you and your partner are done writing your summaries you can read them to each other and give each other suggestions on what you like and what they may need to work on or change, you can refer back to our notes from earlier if needed.” Give the students a few minutes to go over each other’s ideas then you can discuss the main idea of the book with the whole class. We want them to get the most important idea in the book, not just one of the parts that they think is important. We need to help guide them in the correct way. (Ask the students questions from the story to see if they remember what they read about in the story). What happened to the frog in the story? How did you know this? What was different about the frog and the turtle that we read about? Where was that in the book? (Add more comprehension questions depending on their reading level). If they cannot answer any of these questions use this as a moment to remind them that reading just to read and not comprehend is a major waste of time. 

 

6.   Say: “Tonight I want everyone to read the book Frogs, Toads, and Turtles at home silently.  In Frogs, Toads, and Turtles you will learn about the difference between frogs and toads. We learned today that a frog is an amphibian, but what is the difference between toads, frogs, and turtles. Then I want you to write a paragraph to summarize your book just like we did in class today. You can also use the worksheet organizer that I will send home with you like we did in class today before you write your paragraph. Bring it with you to class tomorrow and you can get with a partner and discuss your ideas before we go over them as a class. For extra points draw each- a frog, a toad, and an amphibian.” Use this as a way to assess their summaries and comprehension. 

 

References-

Michael PressleyCarla J. JohnsonSonya SymonsJacqueline A. McGoldrick, and Janice A. Kurita. 

Strategies That Improve Children's Memory and Comprehension of Text

 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/461599

Sadie Ruth, Reading to Learn

 https://sadieruthh.wixsite.com/mysite/reading-to-learn

Carley Prichard, Reading to Learn

 https://carleyprichard.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/reading-to-learn

Jackie Hogan, Reading to Learn 

https://hoganjackie96.wixsite.com/mysite/-about

Jari Hope Coker, Reading to Learn

https://jarihopecoker.weebly.com/reading-to-learn.html

Bishop, Nic. Frogs. Scholastics Nonfiction. 2008. Print

Reading Genie, Dr. Murray Perspectives http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/perspectives.html

Burns, Diane. Frogs, Toads, and Turtles. Northword Press. 1997. Print.

Reading to Learn Lesson Design Laci Rickard http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/persp/rickardrl.html

 

 

 

 

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