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Stung with Summarization 

Reading to Learn

Rationale: The goal for readers is that they will learn by comprehending what they have read. After students begin reading correctly and fluently, that’s when they can move onto the next level. Comprehensive reading is how the student will be able to understand what the text is saying. Children must learn how to read to learn. The biggest part of being reading to learn is summarization. Summarizing teaches students to pick the most important information and get rid of the extra details, plus learning how to use a graphic organizer. 

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Materials:

  • Paper, pencil, and highlighter for every student

  • Summarization checklist for each student

  • Summarization rules bookmarks

    • Delete or mark off information that isn’t important

    • Highlight the important information

    • Ignore the small details

    • Form a topic sentence from the reading

  • Article: Honeybee Mystery and Blue Marlin

  • Summarization rubric 

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Procedures:

  1. Say: “Today we’re going to learn how to summarize an article! We can remember what we read by summarizing it. What is summarizing? It is picking out the most important information in an article or source. We are going to practice how to summarizing with two articles. Determine what the main idea is, what information supports the main idea, and what details we can take out.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

  2. Say: “Now we must learn the rules of summarizing. [Pass out the bookmark sheets with the rules on it.] First I am going to write each rule on the board and you will copy it. Once we finish writing down these rules, you will be to look at this bookmark while you are reading."                                                                                                                                                           

  3. Say: "The first thing you do after you read an article is to remove the repeated information. Next, you highlight the important information. Finally, you write a statement that explains the main topic or concept of the article. The main idea should be supported by all the details.”                                                                                                                                                                                              

  4. Say: "Now fill in the blanks that are missing in these steps on the bookmark you have. [They can look and see the sentences on the board.] On the back of it, write down any key facts you think is important for summarizing. Just like, my summary should be shorter than the article itself.”                                                                                                                                                                                                       

  5. Say: “Now I’m going to give everyone an article on the Blue Marlin.” Give every student a copy and then a book talk. “This article is about a blue marlin.Does anyone know what a blue marlin is? Where do you think it lives? Lets read to find out if you knew these things about a blue marlin.” Allow students time to read article.                                                                                                                                                                                   

  6. Say: “Now, pick out the information that is not important. Just like, I don't think we really need to know that Blue Marlins are some of the most recognizable fish in the world. Since we decided it is not important we can cross it out with our pencils. Then, we need to highlight the important information in the text. For example, when it says, “Lives in the warm surface waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.” Lets highlight warm waters and Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Now, we have to create our topic sentence. Our first question is  “What is it about?  What is the main point? We know that the article is about blue marlins, so maybe our topic sentence could be about that! Use your topic sentence and the information that you have left to write our summary on your paper and make sure it is in your own words. (Walk around and help with writing.)                                                                                                                            

  7. Next pass out the article “Honeybee Mystery.” Say: “This article is about honeybees! As a class, we are going to read the first two paragraphs and practice summarizing before you all try on your own. Find an umbrella term for things that happen in the paragraph. When you read the article remember to highlight the important information with your highlighter, and cross out the unimportant information with your pencil. Once you finish a paragraph, write a summary sentence. [Once students finish reading paragraph two, stop them.] Okay, so let’s practice our summarizing skills by using the second paragraph.” [Bees give us a lot more than delicious honey. They are pollinators—they enable plants to produce the fruits and nuts we enjoy by carrying pollen from one plant or flower to the next. The wind pollinates oats, corn, and wheat, but many other plants (like apple and cherry trees and melon vines) depend on insects, bats, and birds.]                                                                                                                                                                                

  8. Say: “What do you think pollen is? (Give a few seconds wait time) The yellow powder that plants and flowers have is called pollen. It helps make new flowers. Can someone give me a sentence with the word pollen in it?  (Wait for response). Next we are going to find the main idea in this sentence. [Ask students this]. Good job! In this paragraph, the main idea is that bees are pollinators. We can cross out the other information because it isn’t important right now. Your sentence should look like, and the rest of the sentence should be crossed out.” [display what it should look like on over head]                                                                                                                                 

  9. Say: “We will continue picking out the important points in each paragraph. This time you are going to continue to read by yourself. Summarize as much as you can. Always highlight the important parts and crossing through the unimportant details. I’ll walk around and check everyone’s work. Once you’ve finished reading the whole thing, write a combined one-paragraph summary of the whole passage.”

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Assessment:

In his/her summary, did the student…

  • Delete insignificant information?  YES / NO

  • Write a topic sentence?  YES / NO

  • Write 3-5 good, concise sentences?  YES / NO

  • Select the key points from the article?  YES / NO

  • Chose the correct main topic for this article?  YES / NO

  • List 5 new vocabulary words/definitions at the end?  YES / NO

 

After the assessment, I will also ask each student questions as a reading comprehension check for the end of the lesson. The questions will include:

  • What crop is in danger because of dying bees?

  • Can scientist examine the dead bees? Why or why not?

  • What do bees do beside make honey?

  • What does the queen bee do in a hive?

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Reference:

Anna Laws, Swimming into Summarization http://afl0003.wixsite.com/website/reading-to-learn

 

Jackie Hogan, Buzzing into Summaries http://hoganjackie96.wixsite.com/mysite/-about

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Honeybee Mystery: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/honeybee/#honeybee-pink-flower.jpg, https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxjYXJvbGluZXNleGNpdGluZ2xlc3NvbnN8Z3g6MTc2ZDAyZGU4YmZlZjllNg

 

Blue Marlin: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/blue-marlin/#blue-marlin-closeup.jpg

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Bee Image: http://bestanimations.com/Animals/Insects/Bees/bee-animated-gif-36.gif 

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