Reading to learn design

SKIING INTO SUMMARIZATION

Rationale: Now that students know how to be fluent readers, they must now learn how to comprehend what they are reading. This is called reading to learn. Readers can do this through something called summarization. This tool helps readers distinguish between important and not so important information in a text so gain a better understanding of it. A great method to summarize is called about-point, which asks two critical questions about the text: a) What is the text about? This is usually an easy question that identifies the topic of the text and b) What is the main point the writer is making about that topic? This is a harder question that will require compiling all of the important ideas of the text. This lesson will teach readers how to summarize information, while demonstrating comprehension.

MATERIALS: Pencil, paper, copies of article on how to teach kids to ski from REI co-op, summarization checklist, and comprehension quiz

PROCEDURE:

Say: “Today we are going to learn about summarization. Summarization is when we pull out the most important parts and what we are reading that gives us the main points, or the gist, of what happened. This helps us to distinguish the important parts from the not so important parts. We would never be able to remember every little word or every little detail of a piece of text, so this saves us loads of time. Summarization is a great tool because of that! Let’s learn how!”
Say: “A great method we can use to summarize is called about-point. Can anyone tell me what they think this method might entail or look like? *wait for responses* Those are all great answers, we are on the right track. About point is a method that requires us to ask ourselves two questions. The first one is simpler: What is the text about? This one requires us to find the topic of the text as a whole. The second one might take some more time: What is the main point the writer is making about that topic? This is a harder question that will require compiling all of the important ideas of the text and creating an umbrella term that encompasses all.”
Say: “If we were to read a story about dogs and how to take care of them and the story mentions the name of the dogs, then we would know that the names of the dogs are not important to the summary because the main point is how to take care of the dogs not their names.
Say: “Today we are reading an article that teaches us all of the basics of skiing. We are going to use the about-point method we just learned about to summarize this article. Raise your hand if you have ever gone skiing? *wait for some hands* I see a few hands out there! Like many of you, I have never been skiing either so it will be fun to learn together. This article will answer many questions that we might have about skiing like what to wear, what to bring, and how to start.”
Say: “There is an important word in this article that we must understand before we begin reading. This word is “insulated”. Can anyone tell what insulated means. *wait for answers* Insulated means being protected by material to prevent heat loss.What are some ways that we can stay insulated? This is really important for skiers because they are on mountains that are covered in snow and high up in extremely cold temperatures and need to stay warm. I want everyone to raise their hand and finish this sentence for me. To stay insulated, I wear ______. *wait for answers* All of those answers tell me that you understand what insulated means!
*Give out articles* Say: “Let’s take a look at our article and try out the about-point method. Look at this short section. This is one of the first sections in the article under “jacket”.

The goal is to be warm when riding up the chairlift, but not sweaty while skiing down. An insulated, waterproof/breathable snow jacket with a removable or tuck-away hood is best—the hoodless collar seals in air around the neck. If the jacket has an integral hood, make sure it fits over a ski helmet or else it just gets in the way. Look for a hip-length jacket to prevent snow from getting in at the waist.

Say: “Let’s figure out the main points the author is trying to get across here. A jacket will be necessary for skiing, but not just any old jacket-you will need one that is breathable, insulating but does not get too hot and has a hood that traps in air.
Say: “Now that we have had some practice, I want you to finish reading the article using the about-point method to create topic sentences for each paragraph. This will give you a summary of the article and help you remember the basic information you need to go skiing. Only pick out the main ideas not random tidbits that do not apply. These summaries need to be in your own words not repeating what the article says, that would defeat the purpose of this exercise. We will have a comprehension quiz to make sure we understand what this article is saying once everyone is done with their summaries.

Assessment: Collect each student’s summary of the article, and evaluate using this checklist

__ Collected important information

__ Ignored trivia and examples in summary.

__ Significantly reduced the text from the original

__ Sentences brought ideas together from each paragraph

__ Sentences organized coherently into essay form.

*give out the comprehension quiz*

Comprehension quiz