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Getting the Eyes to Summarize!

A Reading to Learn Lesson Design

By: Hannah Tarwater

Feel free to email me here with any questions or comments about this lesson!

Rationale: The entire goal of reading is to be able to comprehend what it is you are reading. One way to show that you fully understand a text is through summarization. One summarization method is called the about-point method in which readers ask two questions from the text. Readers ask what the text is about and what the main point is. This causes readers to sort through the different points made in the text and find an umbrella term to put all of the author’s important points under. This is called subordinating the points. Students will use the answers to these two questions to come up with a topic sentence. Students will learn how to summarize and better comprehend a text by using the about-point method after reading an article.

Materials: copies of the Octopus text, pencils, paper, summarization checklist for the teacher, comprehension quiz

Procedures:

1. Say: “Summarizing is when we can remember important points the author makes after we read a text. We summarize longer paragraphs or texts into one or a few sentences that are clear and concise and talk about the key points within a text. If I asked you to memorize a whole paragraph you had never seen before word-for-word, what would you think? Right, that would be extremely difficult! That’s why we are going to learn about summarization strategies: so we can reduce the text into just a few sentences making it easier to remember what the text was about.”

2. Say: “One great strategy to summarize texts is called the about-point strategy. It is called about-point because the reader asks themselves first, what is the text about? And second, what is the main point the author is trying to make? The first question is usually pretty simple, but figuring out the main point will be more challenging. You will have to find a phrase or sentence that encompasses all of the important points from the text.”

3. Say: “I am going to show you how to use the about-point strategy in a text, and then I am going to let you practice some before you try it on your own with a very interesting article. Has anyone ever heard of Rosa Parks? What do you know about her? She is a very important person in America’s history who helped create change by standing up for her rights. [Show paragraph on board and read it] Here is one paragraph from an article on her:

‘Although Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation granted slaves their freedom, for many years black people were discriminated against in much of the United States. In southern states, for instance, most black children were forced to attend separate schools from white kids in classrooms that were often rundown, with outdated books. African Americans also couldn’t eat at the same restaurants as white people and had to sit in the back seats of public buses. Segregation—the separation of races—was enforced by local laws.’

First, I need to ask myself what the paragraph is about. It is about segregation. What are some of the main points the author is trying to make? They are saying that even though slaves were free, black people were still segregated, and segregation happened at schools, restaurants, even on public buses because local laws enforced it. To summarize these and make a topic sentence for the paragraph, I can combine these ideas and say, “Although black slaves were free legally, discrimination was around for much longer because local laws enforced segregation throughout almost all facets of society.”

4. Say: “Now that I have shown you this example, I want you to read this next paragraph, and we will work together to come up with a topic sentence using the about-point method. Here is the next paragraph of the article:

‘Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913. On December 1, 1955, she boarded a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama and sat in the middle, where blacks in that city were allowed to sit unless a white person wanted the seat. As the bus filled with new riders, the driver told Parks to give up her seat to a white passenger. She refused. The driver called police, and Parks was arrested.’

[Allow the students time to read this paragraph from the board] What is this paragraph about? [Let students answer] Yes, this is about Rosa Parks. What key points is the author trying to make? [Let students answer] Great! The author’s main point is that Rosa Parks boarded a bus and refused to give up her seat to a white person, so she was arrested. How could we combine these ideas into a topic sentence for the paragraph?” [Wait for a response and use their answers to come up with a topic sentence like the following: During a time of segregation, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and was arrested for it.]

5. Say: “Now, I am going to let you use the about-point method for an interesting article on octopuses. Do any of y’all like octopuses? Have you ever touched one? What do you know about them? [Provide wait time and discuss answers after each question] We are going to get to learn more about these fascinating creatures, such as how they eat, where they live, and how they change colors. We will have to read to find out about all of this!” [Pass out the article to each student]

6. Say: “Before we get started, we need to talk about a new vocabulary word found in this article. The vocabulary word is species. Species refers to a group of similar organisms with defining characteristics. For example, dogs, wolves, and coyotes are pretty similar and are contained within the same genus but they each have their own species group with certain characteristics that distinguish them from one another. Simply put, species refers to different types. Let’s use this word in a sentence. ‘There are more than 3,000 species of snakes in the world.’ This means that there are over 3,000 distinct types or groups of snakes worldwide! Now, I want you to think of a time when you could use the word species in a sentence. Maybe think of plants or animals if you are having trouble thinking of one!” [Let students respond and correct as necessary.]

7. Say: “Now I want you to take some time to read the octopus article. For each paragraph, use the about-point method to make a topic sentence. When you are finished, you should have a good summary of the article, and you will have pulled out the key points from the text. Remember, you want to shorten the article which means you only need to pick out meaningful information. Remember to write it in your own words and we will have a quiz once everyone has finished writing. After our quiz, I want you to share your topic sentences with a partner and see how they compare! Talk about why you choose to write what you did.” [Have students take quiz and then share topic sentences with their partner.]

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

__ Contains important information

__ Ignored trivial and examples from the article

__ Reduced the text from the original

__ Contained an idea from each paragraph

__ Organized summary into a paragraph

Quiz:

1. Do octopuses usually prefer to live in shallow or deep waters?

2. What are some foods that octopuses like to eat?

3. How does an octopus eat its food?

4. What is one way an octopus can defend itself?

5. Do octopuses normally live alone or in groups?

References:

Article #1: “Rosa Parks,” https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/history/african-american-heroes/rosa-parks/

Article #2: “Octopus,” https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/octopus/

Caroline Dean, “Surprise! Let’s Summarize!” lesson design: https://deancaroline4.wixsite.com/teachingfluency/reading-to-learn

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