Reading to Learn

Let’s get Kraken!

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:

White board and markers; Sample articles for modeling and guided reading; Copies of “Picture-taking Octopus” article for each student; Pencils for students; Summary checklist

Procedures:

1. Say: We all want to be great readers, right? Well, we must learn how to understand what we are reading. Today we are going to learn summarization (which will help us understand the message of what we are reading. Does anyone know what it means to summarize something? [listen for answers] Yes! Summarizing means figure out 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. 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 (for 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 animal behaviorist.Animal behaviorists study the way animals behave and try to determine what causes certain types of behavior and what factors can prompt behavior change. If you come across any other words just underline them and we will go over them as a class.

4. Say: Now, we 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 do it when you are working on your own.

Paragraph: Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker are bug scientists. Together, they are known as the Bug Chicks. The two make videos and write books about insects and spiders. The Bug Chicks go all over the world. Reddick went to Kenya, in Africa. There, she discovered a spider that was new to scientists. She found out it was new by looking at the hairs on its legs. Some people are scared of bugs. Are you one of them? If so, the Bug Chicks have a tip to share. “Most bugs are harmless,” Reddick told TIME for Kids. “If you are afraid of a bug, learn about it!”

As I was reading I crossed out the third sentence because it wasn’t too important. The sentences before were important so I’ll keep those. I would cross out the specific country Reddick went to because we won’t have to know that. I crossed out the sentence referring to the discovery of a new spider because that isn’t important for our summary. I would also cross out the “some people are scared of bugs” sentence.

Summary: Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker are bug scientist called the Bug Chicks. They go all around the world. One tip the Bug Chicks give people who are scared of bugs is that most bugs are harmless.

5. Say: Now, we are going to try and summarize a paragraph together. I’ve put up a different article 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: Among the best-known birds are the birds of prey, such as hawks, eagles, ospreys, falcons, and owls. They have hooked beaks, strong talons or claws on their feet, and keen eyesight and hearing. Ospreys and many eagles eat fish, falcons eat mostly insects, and owls eat everything from insects to fish and mammals.

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: Birds of prey, such as hawks, eagles, ospreys, falcons, and owls. They have many features that help them get prey, like strong talons or claws on their feet, keen eyesight and hearing, and a hooked beak.

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 about the picture-taking octopus 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 talk about what you wrote down. I will walk around and check your progress while you are working.

Assessment: I will assess the students’ knowledge by their summarizations. With that, I will decide 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.

Comprehension Question:

1. Where did Rambo the Octopus learn to take pictures?

2. What did Mark Vette and his team do first to train Rambo to take a picture?

3. How long did it take for Rambo to learn how to take a picture?

4. How many cameras did Rambo destroy?

References:

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/picture-taking-octopus/

https://ansleychristensen.wixsite.com/lesson-designs/reading-to-learn-design

Zipping up Summarization with Zebras! by Fannon Curtis

http://fdc0002.wix.com/lessondesigns#!about1/cay8

click here to go to the communications index

*a kraken is a giant octopus*