Reading to Learn
Hopping Into Comprehension
By: Haden Bishop
Rational: The main goal of reading is comprehension which means having the ability to understand a book or passage you have read. For a reader to gain understanding they must be able to summarize or figure out the main message of what they have read. In this lesson, students will learn to comprehend by summarizing what they have read. They will do this by picking out important information from what they have read, crossing out unnecessary information, and summarizing the main point of the story in three to five sentences.
Materials:
· Butterfly poster- https://everfreecoloring.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/butterfly-coloring-pages-for-preschoolers-8gh51.png
· Red-Eyed Tree Frog (nationalgeographic.com) article
· Big highlighter and sharpie for the teacher
· A highlighter and pencil for each student
· A print out of the butterfly poster for each student- https://everfreecoloring.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/butterfly-coloring-pages-for-preschoolers-8gh51.png
· Poster with the first paragraph of the article
· A printout of the article for each student
· 2 pieces of blank paper for each child
· A quiz for each student
Procedures:
1. Explain the importance of summarization:
Say: “If you are reading a book or article it is impossible to remember ever detail, so a good reader has to summarize the important information they read. The definition of summarization is to give a brief statement of the pain points of something, and in this case we are talking about an article. The important parts of a book or article normally include key details, the main point, and anything that really jumps out at the reader. If you can remember those things you will be able to summarize.
2. Butterfly Summarization Poster – review summarization tips
Say: We are going to use a butterfly poster to help us summarize the text we will read today.
1st we need to forget unimportant details or information that is repeated in the text. We will leave the left wing of the butterfly blank to represent the unimportant information.
2nd we need to remember all of the important things we read. We will write key details and important information in the right wing of our butterfly.
3rd we need to form a topic sentence from the important information we have collected from our reading. This will go on the body of the butterfly.
Say: Now, I am going to model how to do the butterfly chart/ how to summarize with a paragraph from the article we will read today on the red eyed tree frog.
· Book talk: Who in the class thinks frogs are cool? (wait for a show of hands) Has anyone ever heard of a red eyed tree frog or seen one in person? (wait for a show of hands) Does anyone know what family the red eyed tree frog belongs to or what their babies are called? Well do not worry if you don’t know the answers to these questions because you will all know by the end of the day after we finish reading our article about them!
3. Teach the children important vocabulary from the article:
Say: To comprehend what we are reading it is important to know the key vocabulary words in the article. We are going to go over some of the key words you are going to see while reading our article about frogs. (For each of the words explain them in easy-to-understand language, and scaffold by using the word in a sentence so the kids have context. Also try to throw in a sample question using the word.)
Words: Hatch, tadpoles, metamorphosis, camouflage
Next give an example: Say: Hatch is one of the words you will see in the article we are reading today so lets look at what is means. To hatch means to come out of an egg. Amphibians and reptiles lay eggs that their babies hatch out of unlike mammals who give birth to live offspring. Would a cow lay eggs or give birth to live offspring? How about a frog or snake?
4. (Hang up the butterfly summarization poster with the summarization rules under the butterfly as a reminder to the children. Next to that hang up a poster with the first 2 paragraph of the article. The teacher needs a big highlighter and sharpie for this activity. Each child should have a printout of the article, a print out of the butterfly poster, a highlighter, and a pencil.)
Say: Here is the first paragraph from our article. I am going to show you how to summarize this text. I need everyone to follow along with me on your paper. First, let’s look under our butterfly and read our summarization steps together. (Have the class read the steps altogether.)
- 1st we need to forget unimportant details or information that is repeated in the text. We will leave the left wing of the butterfly blank to represent the unimportant information.
- 2nd we need to remember all of the important things we read. We will highlight and write key details and important information in the right wing of our butterfly.
- 3rd we need to form a topic sentence from the important information we have collected from our reading. This will go on the body of the butterfly.
First, I need to cross out the least important information and leave the left wing of our butterfly blank to represent the unimportant information. I see that I cannot really cross any information out of the first two paragraphs because I need all of the information. Next, I need to highlight the important information. I think sentences 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the first paragraph are very important. I am going to highlight these sentences and write them in the left wing of the butterfly. (shorthand the sentences in the right wing of the butterfly)
“When the eggs are ready to hatch, the tadpoles inside start swirling around vigorously. The activity breaks each egg open, releasing the little tadpoles. All the tadpoles wash down the leaf in a little stream of moisture from the hatching eggs, and—plop! plop! plop!—they land in the pond below.”
The last thing I need to do is to form a topic sentence from the information in the right wing of our butterfly. (write the topic sentence in the body of the butterfly): When the tadpoles swim around in the egg it hatches open, and the tadpoles slide down the leaf into the pond below.
5. Students summarize:
Say: Now that I have shown you an example of what to do with the first paragraph it is time for you to try to summarize using are summarization rules. Lets read the second paragraph together. “Feeding on tiny insects, the tadpoles live in the water they fell into until they metamorphose, or develop, into little brown froglets. At this point they leave the water and climb up nearby trees to live as tree frogs.” Next say: Who remembers our first step? (Wait for answers) That’s right 1st we need to mark out unimportant details or information that is repeated in the text. We will leave the left wing of the butterfly blank to represent the unimportant information. Does anyone think this paragraph has any unimportant information? (wait for answers) That’s right I think we need all of the information too. So now we know sentence one and two are important so let’s highlight those and write them in the right butterfly wing. Let’s reread the paragraph and sum it up into our topic sentence. (Have the students come up with a topic sentence and pick a good one) That’s a good topic sentence: The tadpoles feed on insects until they grow into little frogs and leave the pond.
6. Have the students write their own topic sentence:
(Pass out 2 pieces of paper to each student for them to write their topic sentences. Inform them that they can draw the butterfly chart if that helps them.)
Say: Now I want you to finish reading the article by yourself and use our summarization rules to form a topic sentence for each remaining paragraph. When you finish you will be able to look at all of your topic sentences and see a good summary of the article. This will help you remember all of the cool information we learned about frogs today. When you finish you can bring your paper to me so I can look over it. After everyone finishes we are going to have a short quiz to help me make sure everyone understood what we learned today.
7. Assessment: when the students bring you their paper use this checklist to make sure they understand how to summarize.
Checklist:
· Did the student collect the important information?
· Did the student reduce the text?
· Does the topic sentence summarize the paragraph?
· Are the sentences organized correctly into essay form?
8. Quiz (pass out a quiz to each student)
1. Do frogs lay eggs or birth live offspring?
2. When a tadpole comes out of the egg what is that called?
3. Where do the tadpoles go after they hatch?
4. What do the tadpoles eat?
5. When the tadpoles turn into frogs do they stay in the pond or leave?
Answers: eggs, hatching, pond, insects, leave
References:
· - https://everfreecoloring.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/butterfly-coloring-pages-for-preschoolers-8gh51.png
· Reading to Learn Design | Readinglessondesigns (wixsite.com)
· Red-Eyed Tree Frog (nationalgeographic.com) article