Swimming into Summarization

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rationale: The ultimate goal for readers is to be able to comprehend what they are reading. Summarizing is one strategy that will help them comprehend, which means to identify and recall main ideas in a text. This lesson is to teach students how to summarize by following several steps in order to better comprehend what they are reading and pick out important details in a text. A summarizing check list will be provided to the students while they practice their skills.

 

Materials: 

1.   Individual copies of article 

2.   Pencil

3.   Paper

4.   Summarization checklist 

5.   Comprehension quiz

                                          

 

Procedures:

·      Say: Today we are going to learn how to summarize! Does anyone know what summarizing means? *allow students to answer* Summarizing means to find the main idea or most important information in a text. Summarizing helps us comprehend our stories that we read so it is important to know how to summarize. Who can tell me what comprehension means? *allow students to answer* Comprehension means to be able to understand something. So, summarizing is one of the steps to help us understand or comprehend what we are reading. *Review with students the steps presented on the poster board* First, we need to delete unimportant information because that information doesn't help us understand the text. Second, we need to delete repeated information because that information has already been stated. Third, we need to pick out important information because that gives us details about the text. Lastly, create a topic sentence, this helps us know what the main idea is and what the overall text is about.

·      Say: Now before we practice our summarization skills lets learn some helpful vocabulary! Look at the word Majestic. Majestic means having or showing impressive beauty or dignity. One an example of majestic would be sunsets. Can anyone think of something that is majestic? *allow students to answer* Watch me use it in a sentence: I love to sit on by the pool and watch the sunset. Now you try finishing these sentences: I love watching the ____ waves crash on the shore. *allow students to answer*Good! Now everyone write your own sentence using the word majestic. *allow a few students to share the sentence with the class*

·      Next, model how students summarize by reading “Swimming” Give every student a copy and then give the following book talk: “This article explains the safety of swimming. Have you ever been swimming? Was it scary or fun?” (Have students read the article silently, then come back together for discussion.) Now, the first thing I want to do is pick out any information in the article that is not important. Let's all take our pencil and cross out any information that we do not think is important. Next, we need to highlight and locate important pieces of information in the text. Next, we need to create our topic sentence. Now we can use our topic sentence and the information that we have left to write our summary. On your own paper, write the topic sentence and the rest of the information that we have left in your own words. (Walk around to scaffold the writing.) Another idea would be to use the main point to create the topic sentence. Ask the students, "What is it about?" and "What is the main point?"

·      Now, you are going to practice your summarizing skills on our own you are going to read “Sun Safety” Give book talk: “This article explains why you should protect your skin against the sun”. I want you to write a summary sentence for each paragraph. Do not forget to follow the summarizing checklist; I expect to see each step.

 

·      Assessment: I will use the checklist below to grade the students summarizing skills. I will also ask comprehension questions to check for understanding.
 

·      Steps:

Yes or No

Mark out unimportant information

 

Mark out repeated information

 

Underline important information

 

Topic sentence

 

·      Comprehension questions:

1.    Name two rules to follow while swimming.

2.    What is a depth marker?

3.    How can you get a sun burn?

4.    How can you prevent sunburns?

 

 

 

References:

Swimming: Kid’s Health Nemours. https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/swim.html

 

Sun Safety: Kid’s Health Nemours. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/sun-safety.html

 

Ready, Set, Summarize by Delaney Stephens  https://das0032.wixsite.com/lesson-designs/reading-to-learn