Reading to Learn | lessondesigns

Reading to Learn Design: Summarization is Out of This World!

Morganne Cieslak

Rationale: When attempting to gain new knowledge, reading is usually the first skill we use to come to understand what we are learning. Comprehension of a text is the ultimate goal of a student's reading development. When a student reads for comprehension, they are no longer spending time decoding words. Instead, they are focused on understanding the message of the text. This metacognitive shift of reading to learn and understand is typical of later elementary grades (3-5). Just as the process of reading takes some time to progress, so does the process of finding significant information. For this lesson, students will practice the reading comprehension strategy of summarization. Summarizing is a skill that all beginning readers need to rehearse in order to be more successful in reading comprehension. Once readers can identify the main points of an article, they become a more accurate researcher, writer, and reader. During this lesson, students will get the opportunity to analyze articles in attempt to find the main points of the text. Students will summarize text by selecting important information and eliminating unnecessary details. The teacher will model how students detect important information that is needed to write an effective summary. Students will practice their summarization skills on their own by composing a 3-5 sentence summary to be assessed by the teacher. After learning how to use this skill, the students will be on their way to becoming better readers.

Materials: Pencils for each student, class set of yellow highlighters, class set of red pens, 2 loose leaf sheets of paper for each student, Summarization Activity Checklist copies for each student, Teacher Assessment Checklist (1 checklist per student—for teacher only), copies of reading comprehension questions for assessment, class set of articles: Why are spacesuits so important? and What was the first manned moon landing like?, teacher copy of Why are spacesuits so important? for demonstration, overhead projector

Summarization Activity Checklist:

_____ I have removed unimportant information by crossing it out.
_____ I have removed repeated ideas.
_____ I have found supporting details to help answer the question.
_____ I have written my topic sentence.
_____ I have written a 3-5-sentence summary.

Teacher Assessment Checklist:

When summarizing, did the student:

Construct a simple, topic sentence about the main idea? Y/N
Delete unimportant information? Y/N
Include supporting details? Y/N
Delete repeated information? Y/N
Write summary in 3-5 complete sentences? Y/N

Procedures:

1. Say: “Today we will be working on our reading comprehension skills to help us become better readers! We already know how to read words and put them into sentences, so let’s work on better understanding what those words mean in relation to each other and the message of the text. We are going to focus on the strategy of summarization. Can someone please remind me what it means to summarize something? (wait for student response) Excellent job! To summarize means to find the most important information, or big ideas, in a passage and put them together to create a shortened version—like a synopsis. A summary can also be a description of the main parts in a story that include the characters, setting and plot. We summarize to help us organize our thoughts while reading to better understand what the author’s meaning is behind the text. In order to find this important information, what are some things we might have to do? (wait for response) Yes, we need to get rid of all the information that does not really help us answer the overall question. Our lesson today will help you become master summarizers by learning the important steps we take to summarize a passage, and then put your skills to the test by practicing summarizing an article on your own.”

2. Hand out Summarization Activity Checklist, highlighters, pens, pencils, and paper. Say: “I am passing out to you a sheet of paper that says ‘Summarization Checklist.’ This piece of paper has all the necessary steps listed to help us summarize while we read. In order to become a good summarizer, we must first know what our summary is going to be about. The first step is to figure out the main idea, or topic, of the passage. Then we will read through the passage. As you are reading, pay attention to the unimportant details that are not completely necessary to include in our summary. We know something is not important if it is stated once, and doesn’t relate to our background knowledge of the topic. It is easiest to mark through these unimportant details using your red pen. Sometimes articles will state the same idea multiple times. It is important that we recognize why that detail is being repeated, because often times it is a key point the author is trying to prove. However, once we have seen it once, we don’t need to see it again so we can ignore the repeated statements. Next, it is important to provide enough detail when summarizing an article. Our next step is to read through the article and find the supporting, or helpful, details. Anything that stands out to you as being important, you should highlight yellow. After you have eliminated unimportant and repeated details and selected important details, you can begin to formulate your topic sentence. This sentence will go at the beginning of your summary and provide the gist of what your summary will be about. Once you create a topic sentence, put a check mark on that line to help me keep track of what has been completed. Then you can begin writing out your summary on the loose leaf sheet. A summary is a brief overview of what you have just read. This means it needs to stay short, about 3-5 sentences. Be sure not to copy word for word what was stated in the article, but to create a summary using your own words as much as you can.”

3. Hand out copies of Why are spacesuits so important? Say: “I am handing out copies of an article titled: Why are spacesuits so important? Just by reading the title, can someone tell me what they think this article could be about? (wait for response) Great job! I think we might be reading about astronauts and why they have to wear those big chunky suits in outer space. Now before we read this together as a class, I want to review a vocabulary word you might not know that is in the article.”

4. Say: “The first word is radiation. Radiation is the process of energy being released in waves and absorbed by something else. Radiation is a process that is invisible. It is not the same as when someone throws a ball, and another person catches it. Rather, it is the transferring of energy from one body to another. Radiation is not something that we can see, hear or touch. Instead, it is a fast movement of energy through particles or waves. Where do you think we could find a source of radiation in our homes? (possible answers: microwave, refrigerator, heat radiator) That’s right! Now, which would more likely be a source of radiation: the sun or a rock? Why do you think so? Finish this sentence: If the candle did not radiate light throughout the dark room… (…we might not be able to see anything.) We’re going to read this article to see if we can find out more about this word and its relation to spacesuits.”

5. Say: “Before we take a look at this article, let’s review our three steps to summarizing:

Eliminate the unnecessary details that you believe will not help you summarize, as well as any repeated details.
Find the important details (items, events) that will help you write your summary.
Organize your ideas in a thoughtful way beginning with your topic sentence and continuing with the supporting details you found earlier.”

6. Read article aloud to class. Say: “Well I think it’s safe to say that spacesuits are definitely a necessity when travelling in outer space! Now that we know exactly how a spacesuit protects us in space, let’s think about how we can summarize this article. First, what is the article talking about? What is the main idea? Right, spacesuits! That is an important term, so let’s highlight it where we see it in yellow. Now let’s find some important details that help us answer the question: why are spacesuits important? We need to look for key details and action words that will help us reach our conclusion. Let’s go back and reread through the article.”

“Let’s begin by continuing to highlight with yellow some of the words or ideas that we see a lot of. I see the words oxygen, pressure, and protection a lot; these must be important. Now I need to find out why they are important, so I must look at the verbs the author uses. The first paragraph in the article mentions that: “Within a few seconds, you’d pass out from lack of oxygen in space. Your blood would “boil” then freeze due to the lack of air pressure.” Well that sounds a little scary, but important to help me understand the vitality of spacesuits. The next paragraph says that: “A spacesuit gives you oxygen and a pressurized atmosphere… The spacesuit ensures you’re not too hot or too cold. It protects you somewhat from radiation.” These all sound like important points that help us understand why spacesuits are necessary. Now I need to reread the paragraphs and cross out the things that are not important with our red pen. These include descriptions, repeated topics, and extra information that takes away from the main point of the article. We can really cross out the first sentence because it does not mention anything about spacesuits. We can also eliminate the fourth sentence, since it just discusses temperatures. The rest of the information, particularly in paragraph two, is really crucial to explaining exactly how a spacesuit protects us in space. What we know is that spacesuits provide oxygen, regulate our body temperature, protect us from radiation, and communicate with other astronauts and the control center on planet Earth. From this paragraph alone, we’ve summarized why spacesuits are important. See how easy summarizing is!”

After giving the students time to mark up their articles, inform them that we must look for a topic sentence.

Say: “Now that we have all of our key information to help us answer the big question, what should our topic sentence be? Remember, the topic sentence includes the main idea of the passage. We’ve learned that spacesuits keep us safe by providing oxygen, protecting our bodies from harmful radiation, and allow us to communicate. My topic sentence could be: ‘Spacesuits are important because they keep our body safe by protecting us from the extreme conditions in outer space.” Once finished, review the summary with the students by using the summarization checklist.

Say: “Now that we are finished with our summary, let’s go back and check if we have all the necessary components for a good summary. Let’s see, do I have a topic sentence? Did I include supporting details? Did I get rid of unimportant information? Is my summary 3-5 sentences? Well done! We have a wonderful summary!”

7. Pass out copies of What was the first manned moon landing like? Say: “Now that we have practice summarizing an article together, I want you to try on your own! This article I’m handing out to you is also about space. You are going to be reading about the first manned trip to the moon! I bet these astronauts wore spacesuits to help them stay safe from the sun’s radiation in outer space. Feel free to mark up the article with highlights and red cross-outs. Then, I would like you to write your own 3-5 sentence summary on your other sheet of loose leaf paper. While you are reading don’t be afraid to look back at your summarization checklist for steps to help you summarize.”

8. To assess the students on their summarization strategy skills, I will ask them to turn in their copy of the What was the first moon landing like? and examine it to see if they have picked out and crossed out the correct details using their editing tools. I will also have them turn in their sheet of loose leaf paper with their 3-5 sentence summary. Once they have turned in both the article and the summary, they will pick up a copy of the reading comprehension questions sheet, answer to the best of their ability, and then turn it in. The students will be individually assessed on their summarization skills using the Teacher Assessment Checklist, and on their understanding of the article by correctly answering the reading comprehension questions.

Reading comprehension questions for What was the first manned moon landing like?:

How many times did Apollo 11 have to orbit the Earth before taking off for the moon?
1. 2
2. 3 and a half
3. 1
4. 1 and a half
After orbiting the moon for a day, who moved to the lunar module “Eagle”?
1. Aldrin
2. Aldrin and Armstrong
3. Collins and Aldrin
4. Armstrong

When did the Eagle land on the moon?
1. July 20th
2. June 20th
3. January 20th
4. August 20th
What did the astronauts do when they landed on the moon?
1. Collected moon rocks, planted the Russian flag, took photos
2. Collected seeds, planted the American flag, took photos
3. Collected moon rocks, planted the American flag, took photos
4. Collected moon rocks, planted the American flag, took vidoes
The Apollo 11 mission is historically famous because…
1. They took cool pictures of the moon’s surface
2. It was the first mission to the moon with people
3. American astronauts went to outer space
4. The American flag was planted on the moon

Answer Key:

1. D

2. B

3. A

4. C

5. B

References: Kelley, Kaide. “Let’s Sum It Up” http://kmk0028.wixsite.com/ctrdlessons/reading-to-learn

Koenig, Claire. “Ready, Set, Summarize!” http://csk0009.wixsite.com/eportfolio/reading-to-learn

Discovery Kids Articles: Why are spacesuits so important? http://discoverykids.com/articles/why-are-spacesuits-so-important/

What was the first manned moon landing like? http://discoverykids.com/articles/what-was-the-first-manned-moon-landing-like/

Click here to return to the Horizons Index.

Ms. Cieslak's Reading Lesson Designs