Rationale: Reading is a very important aspect of learning. In order to really comprehend long texts, students need to practice their abilities to summarize. Readers need to be able to differentiate between important information in text and less important details. This is important for recalling the main ideas of passages. The goal of this lesson is to teach students how to pick out important information in a text, summarize the text, and then demonstrate their understanding of the text. They will do this by reading two short articles, picking out the important information, deleting the trivial information, and writing a summary. While teaching this lesson, it is important to keep in mind the heart of summarization which is subordinating predicate-terms. Subordinating predicate, in other words, means finding an umbrella term for the events that happen in the text.

 

Materials:

• Smart board/white board

• Highlighters for each student

• Pencils for each student

• Copy of Swimming article for each student

• Copy of Life in the Water article for each student

• Paper for each student

• Assessment Summary checklist for each student (for teacher use)

 

Procedures:

1. Say: “Today we are going to learn about summarization. Does anybody know what summarization means?” Allow students a few seconds to answer. Say: “Good! Summarization means reading a text and then picking out the most important details. Then, you put those details into your own words. What kind of details can be important? [Allow students time to answer] Say: “Right! Some examples of important details are main characters, important events, setting, topics, etc. When we summarize, we read long texts, we can summarize so that is it easier to remember. Today we are going to practice summarizing with articles about swimming.”

2. Say: “Let’s learn some good tips for summarizing. I am going to write each tip on the board. Take out a piece of paper and write down the tips so you can look at them when you need them.” [Write the rules on the board and read them as you write them.]

 

• Tip 1: Read the text carefully

• Tip 2: Find the main idea

• Tip 3: Use a pencil or highlighter to mark any important points/details

• Tip 4: Cross out any details that are not important or relevant

• Tip 5: Organize your important points/details into sentences

 

***” Now remember that your summarization should always be shorter than the actual text.” ***

 

1. Say: “Can anyone tell me anything they know about swimming?” [Give students a few minutes to share any information that they know.] Say: “Great! Well, today we are going to learn even more and read an article about swimming. Swimming is a very popular all-around conditioning for both the young and old. As a sport, swimming includes races that are held at athletic clubs, schools, and national and international competitions. It is even a part of the Summer Olympic Games! Has anyone ever watched the swimming event at the Olympic Games before?” [Allow students time to answer and share their experiences. Then pass out the article about swimming to students.] Say: “This article talks about different swimming strokes, the sport of swimming, and the history of swimming. Now, we are going to read this article together as a group. We will highlight and/or underline anything that we think is important as we go along. We will also cross out any details that are not supper important. Then, we will organize what we have highlighted/underlined into sentences to create out summary.”

2. Read the article out loud to the class, while having them follow along. Stop after every paragraph to mark any important details by highlighting/underlining. Cross out any information that does not seem necessary. Go over any vocabulary words that they do not know (Ex: Does anybody know what the word alternate means?) [Give students time to think of a definition.] Alternate means every other thing, time, or person. This word can be used to describe the swimmer’s arm movements. Here is an example of the word in a sentence. The swimmer must alternate her arms after every stroke in order to swim correctly. Would somebody else like to try alternate in a sentence?” [Allow students time to think, and then take 1 or 2 volunteers to share their sentence ideas.] Say: “Let’s look at the first two paragraphs. What is an important word, or main idea, in the first paragraph? The first paragraph/section talks about swimming strokes and how to use them. That is our main idea. So, all our important information will be about what each stroke means and how you use them. What is something important that it says about each swimming stroke? Yes, swimming strokes provide the power to move a swimmer through the water! How many major strokes are there? Yes, there are five major strokes. What does the next paragraph talk about? What is the key umbrella term, or main idea? Yes, the main idea is how swimming is a sport. So, everything important in this paragraph will be about how swimming is a sport. It is important that long-distance races usually take place in lakes or other natural bodies of water? No, this does not have anything to do with why swimming is a sport, so this is trivial information, and we can cross it out. What are the four strokes used in the Olympics and other international competitions? Yes, Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. This is important and it has to do with how swimming is a sport and what strokes are used, so we will highlight it. Below is an example of the highlighted text from the first two paragraphs.

 

• “Athletic clubs, high schools, colleges, and national and international groups hold swimming meets.”

 

• “The most important meet occurs every four years at the Olympic Games.”

 

• “In most races the swimmers used only one stroke; however, all four strokes are used in events called medley races.”

 

1. Discuss the rest of the article with the students, going over the main ideas. Say: “What is the main topic of this article?” Right, it’s about swimming. I would like for you all to write 4 or 5 sentences that summarize the article. The main idea of the article should be your topic sentence (Ex: Swimming is a popular exercise that consists of five major swimming strokes.) [Give the students time to write down their summaries on a piece of paper] Say: “Let’s go over some of the things you wrote.” Call on students to read off one of their sentences. Write their sentences on the board. This way, you are creating a summary with class. Say: “Good job class! We just wrote a summary!” Below is an example summary.

 

• “Swimming is a very healthy exercise for both young and old people to enjoy. Swimming is something that must be taught because it is not a natural born instinct. There are five different types of strokes, freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, and sidestroke. Many places like high schools, colleges, national and international groups hold swimming meets. The Olympics is the most well know event that swimming takes place at.”

 

1. Say: “Now I am going to let you write a summary on your own. I will give you another article to read.” [hand out the Life in the Water article] Say: “This article is about the many different sea mammals that live in the ocean. It discusses manatees, dolphins, orcas, and sea otters. Has anybody ever seen any of these animals? Can you share with the class what they were like?” [Allow students time to share with the class] Say: “Some people say that they wish they were dolphins so they could swim around the ocean and people would not fear them. Does anyone else feel this way? Remember to highlight any main points and cross out anything that is not important that may become distracting. After you read the article, write 4 or 5 sentences to summarize.” [Walk around to monitor students and help any that may need your assistance. Take up their summaries and articles when they are done. This is their assessment.

 

Comprehension Questions:

1. Where are some common places that swimming events take place at? (Answer: schools, national and international competitions, the Olympic Games)

2. What are the five major swimming strokes that provide power to move a swimmer through the water? (Answer: freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, and sidestroke)

3. What are the four strokes that are used when competing in the Olympic Games? (Answer: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly).

4. What is the difference between short races and long races? (Answer: short races test a swimmer’s speed and the longer races test both speed and conditioning.)

5. When did swimming become popular and where did the first swimming championship held? (Answer: first became popular in the 1800s and first swimming championship was held in Australia in 1846)

 

Assessment:

When summarizing, did the student…?

 

1. Underline/highlight important information: YES/NO

2. Cross out unimportant information: YES/NO

3. Find the main idea or topic: YES/NO

4. Write a summary (4 to 5 sentences)

 

Resources:

Swimming Article: “Swimming.” Britannica Kids. 2022.

https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/swimming/353831

 

Sea Mammal Article: “Life in the Water.” Time for Kids. 2016.

https://www.timeforkids.com/k1/ocean-mammals/

 

Samantha Eason, “Stomping into Summarization”

https://samanthaeason1999.wixsite.com/mysite/reading-to-learn-design