Rationale:

When students begin to learn how to read, they are taught strategies that help them decode and recognize new words faster. These strategies that help children decode and recognize new words leads to the ultimate goal of reading comprehension. We want students to be able to understand what is happening in the text. In order for students to learn comprehension they must rehearse summarization. During this lesson, students will have the opportunity to analyze a number of articles in attempt to find the main points of the text. Students will summarize the text by selecting important information and eliminating unnecessary details.

Materials:

Highlighter

National Geographic article about Otters

Yellow highlighters

Individual copies of “Harp Seal” and “Sea Otters” from National Geographic

Summarization checklist:

___ I have written my topic sentence

___I have found supporting details to help answer the question

___ I have removed unimportant information by crossing it out

___I have removed repeated items

___I have written a 3-5 sentence summary.

Individual rubrics for assessment

When summarizing did the student:

• Construct a topic sentence Y/N

• Delete unimportant information Y/N

• Include supporting details Y/N

• Delete repeated information Y/N

• Organize summary with big idea Y/N

Procedures:

1. Introduce Summarization

Say: “Today our lesson is about summarization. That’s a big word, so lets break it down! What does it mean to summarize? It means to take a whole long passage and to only pick out the important things and write a small paragraph about that long passage. Instead of telling about each detail in the passage, you only pick out the important parts to keep it short and to the point! So you have to get rid of those parts that are not important! Today, we are all going to become experts at summarization.”

1. Hand out “Summarization Checklist”

Say: “What I’m passing out is a summarization checklist. When you read, you can go down this list and check off when you complete something. The first thing that we have to do while summarizing is think about what the main idea was in our passage and think of one sentence that can tell us the jest about that whole passage, this is called the topic sentence. Next we have to try to include some details from our article. We will have to reread the passage and look for important details that support our topic sentence. While looking for details, we have to be sure to block out the unimportant information. Sometimes the article will repeat the same information, we have to be sure to edit these out. Now, you can begin to write your summary. Remember, a summary is a brief review of what you have read. Your summary should be one paragraph or less and in your own words.”

1. Say:  “Today, I am going to show you how to use your summarization checklist with the first paragraph from the National Geographic article about Sea Otters. Sea Otters are cute but how much do we really know about them? I’m not sure of what they eat? What they do all day long? We are going to have to read to find out more about them.”

2. Say: “I am going to read the first paragraph and I would like for you to follow along.

“Sea otters are part of the weasel family. They have webbed feet, water- repellent fur to keep them dry and warm, and nostrils and ears that close in the water.

There are a few words that I’m having a hard time with. The first word is repellent. Let’s break that word apart! What does it mean to repel? Does anyone know? Has anyone ever heard it used in another way.. maybe like bug repellent? I have! It means to keep the bugs away. So if their feet are water repellent it means that their feet repel the water away. Their feet do not get wet like ours do, they repel the water. Complete my sentence: When I go camping I spray my mosquito _____ on my body, to keep the mosquitos away. Good job! Now that we know what it means to have water repellent feet, let’s see where sea otters live!

            Ex sentence: When I go rock climbing I climb to the top and I ___ down from the rocks.

1. Say: “After reading about Otters, how their feet are water repellent, and how they can go in the water, we now have to try to summarize this passage. First, what is this article about? Otters! Good job! SO now that we know the otters are out main idea, let’s highlight otters in yellow. Now, let’s find some details that help us answer our question, where do sea otters live? Let’s look in the second paragraph!”

“ Sea otters often float at the water’s surface in forests of kelp, or giant seaweed, and entangle themselves to keep from moving in the rolling sea.”

Say: “ Let’s begin by highlighting the words I think help answer our question! I see water and forests of kelp. Now I reread to cross out anything unimportant. I see that sea otters live in the water in forests of kelp.  This describes where sea otters live! Now I want you to read the third paragraph and try it! See if you can find the answer to: what do sea otters eat?”

1. After students have had the chance to summarize the last paragraph on their own, inform them to look for a topic sentence.

Say: “We have found all of our important information, now we have to write a topic sentence! The topic sentence is the main idea of the passages. I’ve learned that Sea otters live in the ocean in forests of kelp. This could be my topic sentence: Sea otters live in forests of kelp in the ocean. They use rocks to help them get food to eat.

Continue writing summary with students, looking for supporting details and exclusing any unnecessary information. Once you have completed your summary, use your checklist to make sure you have followed all necessary steps.

1. Say: yay! We have finished our summaries. Do you have a topic sentence? Did you include supporting detail? Did you get rid of unimportant information? Is your summary 3-5 sentences? It looks like we all did a good job!

2. Pass out National Geographic article on “Harp Seal”

Say:  “Since we practiced summarizing an article together, I want you to do it on your own! This article is about a seal, kind of like a sea otter but different! After reading and summarizing this article we can compare the sea otter to the seal! I’m looking for you guy to highlight and cross out! Make sure to look back at your summarization checklist as you go!”

Assessment: To assess the students, I will have them turn in a copy of their “Harp Seal” article. I will be looking to see if they highlighted repeats or important information, and crossed out the correct details. I will read over each summary individually. A rubric will be used to assess. Provide students with comprehension questions on the articl

 

Resources:

Stop, Drop, Summarize by Lauren Henson https://lehenson214.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/reading-to-learn

Harp Seal link

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/harp-seal/ - harp-seal-closeup.jpg

Sea otter link

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/sea-otter/#sea-otter-closeup2.jpg