Reading to Learn | lessondesign

Sailing to Summarize!

A Reading to Learn Lesson Design

Rationale: The objective of this lesson is to teach readers how to read to learn with the ultimate goal being reading comprehension. Comprehension is a very important final step in a student’s reading development. Comprehension means that the student is reading for meaning, and is spending all of their time concentrating on decoding the words. Students need to be able to comprehend what they are reading in order to be successful. In this lesson, students will practice summarization as a comprehension strategy. This lesson will teach students how to identify important ideas and key details from the passages they read while learning to eliminate the unnecessary details through modeling, guided practice and individual practice.

Materials:

SmartBoard/Whiteboard

Markers

Informational paragraphs for students to practice with

Copies of National Geographic Kids Article: 1620: Mayflower Compact

Paper

Pencils

Summary checklist

Procedures:

1. Say, “We all want to be good readers, right? We know that good readers are fluent, which means they can easily read passages, but they also understand what they are reading. The best way to understand what you are reading is to summarize each paragraph, so today we will be learning just that. Now, can anyone tell me what it means to make a summary? (call on different students to share their answers) Right! Summarizing means that after you read a passage, you find the important parts in order to make it smaller. Summarizing is very helpful because sometimes passages can be too long to remember everything in them, so when you summarize you are able to take out key elements to help you remember the main idea. We will practice summarizing together and then you will try some on your own.”

2. Say, “There are some rules that we can learn that will help us summarize most efficiently. First, we need to remove any information that isn’t important. Second, we will need to delete any information that is repeated. Thirdly, we need to replace lists of words or items with general terms, and then we will be able to come up with a topic sentence for our summary. We are going to practice with these rules by reading different paragraphs together and then you are going to practice on your own with an article about the Mayflower Compact.”

3. In the article that we are about to read you might come across some vocabulary that is confusing. For example, in this context, the word mouth means the place where a river empties its water. While you are reading, underline the words that you have never seen before or are confused about, and we will go over them together as a class so that everyone can have a better understanding of all of these new vocabulary words.”

4. Say, “Okay, like I said earlier, we are now going to look at a paragraph together. I will put it on the board so that everyone can see it as we read along together. (put paragraph on board) As I am reading this passage, I am going to show you how I cross out unimportant details, underline important details and pick out a nice topic sentence. Make sure you pay close attention so that you will know what to do when it is your turn to do this!”

Paragraph: Screech! When a driver pushes on the brake pedal, it starts a process that causes the vehicle to stop. You literally trust braking systems with your life every time you get into a vehicle or cross a busy intersection, but how does this process work? It begins when the pedal is pushed. At this moment brake fluid is released into the area where the braking mechanisms are located. As the fluid collects, leverage is created, which causes a friction to be applied. If the braking system is functioning properly, this friction will create a force that will cause the wheels to stop and allow you to reach your destination safely.

Say: “As I was reading, I underlined what pushing on the brake pedal does, because the majority of the rest of the paragraph explains that sentence. I also underlined the outline of the process, but I crossed out the sentence about trusting the brakes with your life. I also crossed out the sentence about what the process begins with, because it is just repeating the first sentence. Now I think we have enough to write a summary!”

Summary: Pushing on the brake pedal causes a process to start within the car to make the wheels stop and keep the driver safe.

5. Say, “Let's try summarizing a paragraph together. I am going to put up another paragraph and this time, I want you to tell me what information to underline, cross out, or replace.” (put paragraph on board)

Paragraph: By 1984, NASA, the United States space program, had carried out many successful flights of the space shuttle. In fact, Americans were beginning to take the whole NASA program for granted. Then, the president announced that the next shuttle would carry a school teacher into space. Hundreds of teachers from all parts of the country applied for the job. They all wanted to be “the first teacher in space.” During the next year, these adventurous educators were tested and examined and trained. At last, the choice was announced. A teacher from New Hampshire, Christa MacAuliffe, would be the first teacher-astronaut.

· What is the main idea? What things do I need to underline? (allow students to answer)

· What can I cross out?

· Do I need to replace any words?(allow students to answer)

Summary: In 1984, the president announced that NASA would take a school teacher up to space in it’s next shuttle, and Christa MacAuliffe was chosen.

6. Say, “Okay, now that you have gotten to practice with some different paragraphs, it’s time for you to try some on your own! (Pass out copies of the printed article: 1620: Mayflower Compact.) In this article, you will read all about a when the pilgrims on the Mayflower signed the document that outlined what the rules of their new colony, Plymouth, would be. After you read the article, I would like you to use the checklist that I have given you to help you write a summary. Remember our summarizing rules! When you are done, talk with a friend next to you and review each other’s work. I will be walking around and checking your progress as you work!

Assessment: To assess students understanding of summarizing I will take up their checklists and summary to see who needs further help. I will call students to my desk if they appear to need more practice with summarizing.

I will also ask the students the following comprehension questions:

-What were the pilgrims seeking?

-What made the Mayflower ship go north?

-Did the pilgrims have permission to settle where they did?

Example of checklist:

Did the student... YES NO

Delete unimportant things?

Organize items with a big idea?

Select a topic?

Write a topic statement that covers

everything that is important from

the passage of the text?