Summarization Nation!
Reading to Learn Design
Madison Keith

Rationale: Summarization is defined as the act of, “to sum up the main points of something.” Learning to summarize and comprehend a text is a vital concept to focus on when instructing students on how to read. By learning how to summarize, students will be able to comprehend the meaning of the text and obtain a deeper meaning of what they have read.

Materials:

1. Class set of the articles:

   1. “Milky Way Facts”

   2. “7 Wonders of The World” (previously highlighted)

   3. “History of Space Travel”

2. Four large sheets of self-stick easel pads- each cut into one section of the USA (as divided in the image below

3. Pack of markers for each group

4. Dry erase board

5. Dry erase marker

6. Dry erase board magnets (4)

7. Overhead projector

8. Vocaublary list:

   1. Orbit​

   2. Milky Way

   3. Rotation

   4. Galaxy

9. Checklist of main summarization steps

Procedures:

1. Say: “Today we are going to learn about summarization! Summarization is very important in becoming professional readers! When we as readers summarize, we gather all of the information in which we have gathered from the text and gather its main points. When summarizing, here are some steps we should include:

   1. Finding main points

   2. Deleting small details

   3. Combining repeated ideas

   4. Comparing the topic sentence

[these steps will be written on the dry erase board on display for the kids to see]

1. Say: “Whenever we read something, it is important not to get too invested in the minor details. When you read something that you view as important, highlight it. If it is not important, cross it out. I am going to give you each a brief paragraph about the Milky Way. Before we get started, we will review our vocabulary word.” Vocabulary list: Orbit​,Milky Way,Rotation, and Galaxy. To review the vocabulary, I will do the following for each word: explain what it means using a student-friendly definition, model how to use it in a sentence, provide sample questions for using the word, and scaffold the students in making a sentence with the word. Example: "Our first word is Milky Way. A Milky way is one of the many glaxies in the universe, which just happens to be the galaxy in which Earth is found! Now, try to define the next three vocabulary words from the paragraph on your own. I also want all of you to cross out information that you think is less important, and write a summary about the article beneath it. This summary can be 2 sentences. Be sure to use the new vocabulary words that we have learned in the summary! I will model what the paragraph should look like after everyone has completed it. ” After students have completed their summarizations and annotations, I display the same paragraph with my annotations on the overhead projector to compare with the students’. Choose one student to read their summary aloud.

2.  Say: “Now that you understand how to summarize an article, you will have the chance to practice again in groups! Its Summarization Nation time!” [Separate students into their 4 groups and pass out the article “The Original 7 Wonders of the world”] [pass out the 4 cut outs of the USA to students.] “Now that you’re with your groups, each paragraph of the article is highlighted according to your specific group. I want you to silently read them to yourselves and together, summarize what you have read and write a brief 2 sentences on your paper cutouts.”

3. After the students have finished, say: “Now that we all have summarized our paragraphs of the “7 Wonders of The World,” I want each group to send one student with your cut out and attach it to the board.” [Students attach their cut out to the dry erase board with magnets] Say: “Can anyone tell me what shape each of your summaries has made? Yes, you’re right! Its USA! A Summarization Nation! You see, when you break apart an article and find the important points of each section, you create a condensed version of this article and can bring it all together and understand the text just as we did by summarizing the different paragraphs in our groups and forming our nation on the board.”

4. Say: “Now you will have a chance to try this again on your own.” [pass out “History of Space Travel” articles] “You will work independently, reading this article and writing a one-paragraph summarization of the article. When you are finished, turn them in for a grade, and complete the quiz afterwards. These will also be for a grade." [Hand out quiz after everyone has completed their summarization of the article.]

Assessment: 
______ Collected important information

______ Ignored trivia and examples in summary

______ Significantly reduced the text from the original

______ Sentences brought ideas together from each paragraph

______ Sentences organized coherently into essay form

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Quiz:

1. During the race for space travel, who was the USA's biggest rival?

2. Which country put the first man into space?

3. At what speed does a space shuttle leave orbit?

4. How did the first man in space re-enter Earth?

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References:

Milky Way Facts Paragraph

“The Milky Way is one of many galaxies that lie in the universe. This galaxy is a spiral or whirl shape and home to our planet and Sun. Earth is actually situated in one of the extensions of the Milky Way, away from its center. The Milky Way is very big and takes about 200 million years to make one complete rotation while it only takes Earth roughly 365 days to make a rotation.”

Ali Long, What’s the Point? Sum it Up!

“The Original 7 Wonders of the World”

“History of Space Travel” (3rd paragraph only)