Shrinking the Difficulty in Reading Comprehension
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Reading to Learn
Rationale: The purpose of this lesson is to help students to become the best readers possible. We know that fluency is important for reading but the most important step is to comprehend while reading. Readers should no longer be focused on decoding but rather just focused on understanding the message of the text. One of the best strategies to comprehend text is to summarize it. In this lesson, students will learn how to identify the important information in a text while deleting the unimportant information. They will learn the strategy of summarization through teacher modeling, guided reading, and individual reading.
Materials:
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White board and markers
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Sample articles for modeling and guided reading
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Copies of “Shape-shifting Frog Found” article for each student
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Pencils for students
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Summary checklist
Procedures:
1. Say: We all want to be great readers, right? Well then we must learn how to comprehend what we are reading. Today we are going to learn the strategy of summarization so we can understand the message of what we are reading. Does anyone know what it means to summarize something? [listen for answers] Right! Summarizing means discover the most important ideas in a text, to ignore the irrelevant information, and then to take that information and organize it in a meaningful way. Basically, you are just taking the important parts of a passage and making it smaller. It is hard to remember all the things you read in a long passage, so summary is a great way to remember what you read later. We are going to practice summarizing together and then you are going to try it on your own.
2. Say: When summarizing there are a few rules you need to remember. First, you must pick out all the important information. Next, you have to delete or cross out all the unnecessary or repeated information. Then, you need to take that information in put it into easier terms if you can. Finally, you have to select or invent a topic sentence with which to begin your summary. You are going to summarize an article about a newly discovered frog with very special skin but we are first going to practice a few times.
3. Say: In the article you will read on your own you may come across some vocabulary that you may not know. There are some hard words, like the word vertebrate. This word refers to living things that have a vertebrate like humans and frogs. Some things don’t have vertebrates like spiders and jellyfish. Can anyone name some other creatures that have vertebrates? [wait for students answers] Good job! Now, finish this sentence based on the information that you already know, “the octopus is a/an…..” If you come across any other words just underline them and we will go over them as a class.
4. Say: Now, were are going to summarize a paragraph that I have already put on the board together. I will model how to summarize the passage by crossing out unimportant information, gathering important information and putting what I know together into a sentence. Make sure to pay attention to what i do so that you can replicate it when you are working on your own.
Paragraph: Although other U.S. schools teach American Indian culture, the teachers at AIMS say their school is unique. They connect lessons to American Indian culture. When students learn about plant life cycles in science, they also learn about how Native people used herbs for ceremonies and healing. A language arts class may include a reading about the meaning of jingle dresses. Callista says the focus on American Indian culture helps everyone know that "the culture is still alive."
As I was reading I crossed out the first part of the first sentence because it wasn’t too important. The second sentence is important so I’ll keep that. I will cross out the middle sentences and then finally keep the last sentence.
Summary: AIMS School is unique because the teachers connect their lessons to Native American culture, a practice that is important to help everyone know that “the culture is still alive.”
5. Say: Now, we are going to try and summarize a paragraph together. I’ve put up one on the board and I want you to tell me what sentences to keep, what sentences to discard, and how to rephrase some of the sentences.
Paragraph: Born a commoner, the Egyptian polymath Imhotep was one of the most influential geniuses of the ancient world. Before he was the inspiration for mummy movies, Imhotep was the lead architect for the pharaoh Djoser, and a personal advisor of the king. He is also known by some as the inventor of medicine.
Say: 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: The Egyptian poly Imhotep was one of the most influential geniuses of the ancient world in the fields of architecture and medicine.
6. Say: Now that you all have had some practice it is time for you to try summarizing a text on your own. You will read the article that I pass out and then you will try and summarize it. What rules do you have to remember when summarizing? Good! When you are done turn to the person next to you and review each other's work with the checklist that I will pass out with the article. I will walk around and check your progress while you are working.
Example of checklist:
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Assessment: I will assess the students knowledge by their summarizations and checklists. With that information I will decerne which students need extra help and I will call them up to my desk individually. I will also call every student up to my desk and ask them the comprehension questions.
Quiz:
Where does the frog live?
What is the frog nicknamed?
How large is the frog?
What is the purpose of the frogs changeable skin texture?
What is the official name of the frog?
References:
Chelsea Hall, Sum It Up! http://cdh0033.wixsite.com/chelseahall/reading-to-learn
Article: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/shape-shifting-frog-found/
