Reading to Learn

Sailing into Summarization

Rationale:

One of the ultimate goals of reading is comprehension. Once students achieve this level, they are ready to learn strategies that allow them to understand a text better. One of the most effective strategies for understanding a text Is called summarization. One of the methods of summarization is called about-point. About-point asks two critical questions regarding the text: a) What is the text about? This is typically an easy question, and it helps to identify the topic that will become the subject. b) What is the main point the writer is making about that topic? Typically, the author makes a variety of points, so the reader should mark out information that is not important, underline important information, and then find a general term that covers all of the main points. The subject of the topic sentence is based on the main point. The teacher will model to the students how to identify what information is important and needed in writing a summary.

Materials:

White board and marker
Summarization checklist for every student
Class set of Cheetah article
Comprehension quiz
Pencils
Paper for all students
Highlighters

Procedures:

Say: Today, I am going to help you guys learn how to summarize! Have any of you ever read a book and wanted to tell all of your friends about it? When you were telling them about it, did you read the WHOLE book to them, or did you just tell them about the main parts of the book? You probably told them about the parts that you thought were the most important! This is called summarizing! When summarizing, we have the ability to find the most important points in the text. Good readers do not try to remember everything, instead they use summarization strategies to recall only the important points about the topic. By doing this, readers are able to compact a text into a shorter version that is easy to remember. In addition, summarization is one of the two most important skills for reading comprehension. Therefore, summarization makes it easier to comprehend when we are reading.
Say: About-point is one of the best ways to summarize. In about-point, we ask ourselves two questions. One of the questions is an easy question, and one is harder. We use the answers of the questions to create a topic sentence. The easy question is: “What is the text about?” The harder question is “What is the main point the writer is making about that topic?” In order to answer this question, you have to think of an umbrella term for the important points that the writer is telling. (Write these questions on board)
Say: Today, we are going to learn how to about-point a paragraph today! In order to do this, we have to start by going over two vocabulary words that you will be reading. The first word is extinction. Extinct means that something or a group of things no longer exist. For example, “Dinosaurs are extinct.” Now, I want everyone to get out a piece of paper. On the paper, answer this question, “What is something that you have learned about that is extinct?” The second word is combine. Combine means to bring two things together to form a whole. For example, “We have to combine the eggs and flour to make a cake.” Now, on the sheet of paper answer the question, “What types of things do you like to combine?”
Say: Now that we understand the words extinction and combine, let’s look at a paragraph from our article! “The cheetah’s excellent eyesight helps it find prey during the day. The cheetah is hard to see because its spotted coat blends with the tall, dry grass of the plains. Suddenly, the cheetah makes a lightning dash. It knocks its prey to the ground and then bites its throat. Once found throughout Asia and Africa, cheetahs today are racing toward extinction. Loss of habitat and declining numbers of their prey combine to threaten the future of these cats. Cheetahs live and hunt mainly in open grasslands and bushy areas in parts of Africa and the Middle East.” This paragraph is about cheetahs, but what are the important points? Cheetah’s have very good eyesight that help them find their prey. Cheetahs have spotted coats that blend into the grass. I can form a topic sentence by joining these two points: A cheetah can find its prey by their great eyesight and their ability to blend into their surroundings.
Say: Now, I want you all to try! I know you will do great! Read this paragraph: “Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, cheetahs are considered one of the ‘big cats.’ Tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars, and cougars are also part of this grouping.”
Say: What do you think this paragraph was about? Correct, cheetahs. What are some of the main points that the author makes? Right! Cheetahs are considered a big cat. What about another? Perfect, they have a similarity with tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars, and cougars. In order to form our topic sentence, we have to combine both of these points! Cheetahs… Cheetahs are known as “big cats,” and so are tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars, and cougars. Therefore, we can know that an umbrella term for this is "big cats."
Say: Now, it is time for you all to try. I want you to finish reading the article and write a topic sentence for each paragraph using about-point. Once you finish writing the sentences, combine them into a paragraph. Combining it into a paragraph allows you to have a strong summary of the article! The summary allows you to remember the most important information about cheetahs. Remember that about-point has two questions, so make sure that you answer them both! I have them on the board if you need help remembering! Also, remember that a summary is in your own words. Pick the most important parts and put it in your own words. When you are finished, please bring your sheet to me!
As the students turn in, I will read over their topic sentence page and see if it is correctly summarized. I will use the assessment checklist to help me grade these. After, the students will take a brief comprehension quiz to ensure they understood the article.

Summary Checklist:

Did I…

Write my topic sentence?
Find supporting details to help answer the question?
Mark out unimportant information?
Create a 3-5 sentence summary?

Assessment:

Did the student:

Write a topic sentence for each paragraph?
Collect important information/ delete unimportant or repetitive information
Significantly reduce the text from the original
Successfully conjoin the important points to form a topic sentence

Quiz:

What are some other mammals that are similar to cheetahs?
How much time does a cheetah need to catch its breath before it can eat?
Why do you think a cheetah needs to catch its breath before it can eat?
Why do you think that cheetahs are going towards being extinct?
Where do cheetahs typically live and hunt?
Why do you think this is where they choose to live and hunt?
Do you think that people can run as fast as a cheetah?

References:

Article: National Geographic Kids, Cheetah

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/cheetah/

Loggins, Grace. Flying into Summarization

https://sgloggins17.wixsite.com/mysite-1/reading-to-learn

Murray, Bruce. Using About-Point to Awaken the Main Idea

https://murraba.wixsite.com/reading-lessons/rl