Reading to Learn Design

Zipping Up Summarization with Zebras

By: Fannon Curtis

Rationale: After children can read accurately and fluently they will soon be able to read in order to learn. The ultimate goal of reading is comprehension, and students at this level are ready to take on this task. This lesson introduces students to a helpful strategy known as summarization and to help them read to learn. Students will learn to delete trivial information in an article about elephants, which will only leave them the important facts in the end.

Materials:

Pencils (one for each student)
Paper (one for each student)
Highlighters (one for each student)
Passage sample on Smart Board of "Zebras"
Dry erase markers
Rubric for grading summaries
Comprehension Questions
Class set of the article "Great White Sharks" by National Geographic

Procedures:

Today, we are going to be learning how to summarize an article! This is when you condense the information down to only what is most important by deleting the trivial and repeated information. We are going to practice how to do this skill with two different articles. We will focus on what the main idea is, what facts support the main idea, and what information we can remove.
Say: Now we are going to read a message together on the SmartBoard. This passage is on Zebras. Do zebras live in Africa or India? That’s right they live in Africa. Do they eat meat or plants? Correct! They eat plants. Let’s read more about our friends the Zebras. Follow along with me as I read this passage out loud. Show first paragraph of Zebra article on SmartBoard.
Say: Who can sum up what you just read? Wait for students to give their summaries and write down what they say. Let’s take a look at my copy of this paragraph on the SmartBoard. Notice how I highlighted important details and crossed out details that were not important. That helps me keep facts straight and the main idea in mind. Model the sample below on board.

Each zebra has its own unique pattern of distinctive stripes, just as humans have their own unique pattern of fingerprints. Zebras stick together in herds. Within a herd, zebras tend to stay together in smaller family groups. Families are generally made up of a male, several females, and their young.

Explain: To review, the main topic or first sentence tells us what the paragraph will be about. Our first sentence talked about zebra’s stripes and how each one has a different pattern, so we highlight it. And then the paragraph tells us about the zebra’s herds. This is great information, but we are focusing on the zebra’s stripes, not their herds so we cross it out. Then it tells us how the herds are called families. That’s great information, but we just don’t need it! We are summarizing the article about zebra’s stripes.
Now the students will practice what they have just learned on their own. Pass out a copy of the African Elephant article to each student to mark and highlight on. “I am passing out a text about a species of elephant known as the African Elephant, for you to read and highlight the important things. Have you ever been to a safari? What about a zoo that had elephants? This is a really interesting text that will make you think of this animal in a whole different way. If I were you, I would read the story once through and then go back to highlight what I remember was really important. Once you have narrowed the text down, you can double check your work and write a short summary.
Before you read, let’s quickly remind ourselves of what one of the words in the passage means. Write the word and definition on the board.

Ivory- a material that an elephants tusk is made out of, making them desirable to hunters

i.What color do you think ivory is? Ivory is white.

ii.Why is ivory so desired? Ivory is rare, and beautiful making it very desirable. Ivory can be used to make jewelry, china, and other things. It is very strong and versatile.

iii.Ivory can be used to make…

Once they are written on the board, ask the questions for the vocabulary word. The questions are listed under the vocabulary word and a finish the sentence example is included as well.

Assessment: I will call each student back one at a time once they have had time to read and highlight. I will see what they highlighted, along with a summary that they wrote. I will rate this on the rubric (see below), and ask them a couple of comprehension questions. Once the students have met with me, they will get in small groups to discuss the article and their summaries aloud.

Questions: