Rationale: Summarization is a powerful strategy for comprehending a text. Summarization involves sorting through all of the information and selecting the most important points by composing topic sentences. About-point is a powerful summarization technique which is what students will focus on throughout this lesson. This technique involves first answering the question “What is the text about?” Then students will answer the critical summarization question “What is the main point the writer is trying to make about the topic?” The second question is a much harder question because students must distinguish which point of information is the most important piece. In this lesson, the teacher will explain summarization, model how to summarize, review vocabulary, and provide students with an opportunity to summarize a text individually.

 

 

Materials: 

1. Pencil and paper for every student

2. Summarization Checklist 

3. Individual Copies of “StarFish Facts!” for every student

4. Comprehension Quiz

 

Procedure:

1. Start the lesson by explaining to children why summarization is important to them as readers. Say: Sometimes when we read a text, it is easy to lose track of some of the words and messages that the author is sharing with you. Good readers do not try to remember everything they read; instead, they summarize what they have read to understand the main information in a text. We are going to use summarization strategies to remember only the key points that the author is trying to make about the topic. By doing this, we can transform a text from hundreds or thousands of words into a few sentences that are easier to remember and understand. 

2. Say: The most effective way that we can learn to summarize is by using a strategy called about-point. This is when we read a paragraph and ask ourselves two questions to help us better understand what we just read. The two questions are “What is the text about?” and “What is the main point the writer is making about that topic?” The second question is the harder of the two because you have to decide which information is the most important, but we will have some practice time so that you can become an expert at about-point summarization.”

3. Say: In a minute, I am going to show you how I would use the about-point strategy with one paragraph from the article you will read today called “StarFish Facts!” Does anyone know what a starfish is? Where do starfish live? What do starfish eat? These are all questions that you will be able to answer after reading the article and summarizing today!

4. Say: Before we dive into reading this article, let’s go over an important vocabulary word that you will come into contact with in the text: solitary. Solitary means to exist and be alone. For example, “Many people choose to live a solitary life and live alone” They don’t interact with other people a lot and spend a lot of time alone. What is an example of someone that may choose to live a solitary life? Finish this sentence: blank lives a solitary life because…

5. (Pass out the article to each student) We are all going to start reading by reading the first paragraph together! 

 

“First things first – despite their common (and very misleading!) name, starfish (or sea stars) are <not> actually fish. Since they don’t have a backbone, they belong to a group of species called invertebrates, which also includes urchins and sponges.”

 

This paragraph is about starfish, but what important points is the author making? The author talks about how starfish aren’t actually real fish. He tells us about how their lack of a backbone actually makes them invertebrates rather than fish. To make my topic sentence, I need to find a way to tie all of these points together. Starfish are not fish since they do not have a backbone, instead they are invertebrates. 

 

    6. Now I want you to use about-point summarization on a paragraph:

 

“Their arms are covered with pincer-like organs and suckers that allow the animal to slowly creep along the ocean floor. They also have eyespots on the tips of the arms, which allow the starfish to sense light and dark, and help it find food.”

What is this paragraph about? Yes, different features of starfish. What are the main points about the starfish features? Correct, they have suckers that allow them to creep on the ocean floor. Another point is that they have eyespots on their arms to help them sense light and dark. How can we combine these points into one topic sentence? Starfish…? (call on students). Answer: 

Starfish have suckers and eyespots  that allow them to creep on the ocean floor and sense light and dark

 

 7. Have students get out a piece of paper and a pencil. Say: “Now I would like you to read the entire article and use our about-point strategy to write a topic sentence for each paragraph. When you are done you will have a great summary of the article in the form of a complete paragraph. This will help you remember important facts about starfish. Be sure to leave out examples because these  are just here to help you understand the information. Examples are not main points. We will have a quiz after everyone finishes, so make sure that you remember the facts.”

 

Summarization Assessment Checklist: 

Gather all the students’ summaries of the article and evaluate their summaries using the following checklist:

 _____ Student collected important information 

_____ Student ignored examples and minute details in the summary.

 _____ Students significantly reduced the text from the original article.

 _____ Sentences brought ideas together from each paragraph

 _____ Sentences organized coherently in essay form

 

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Comprehension Quiz:

1.  Where is a starfish's habitat? 

2.  What group of species does starfish belong to and why? 

3.  What do starfish eat?

4.  What are starfish’s predators?

5.  What is an example of one defense mechanism starfish use against predators?

6. What feature of starfish helps them crawl on the ocean floor?

7. When do starfish choose to be social? 

 

References:

-Lily Stewart, Summarizing with Dr. Suess https://lcs0050.wixsite.com/lessons/reading-to-learn

-Starfish Facts, National Geographic Kids https://www.natgeokids.com/za/discover/animals/sea-life/starfish-facts/