Rationale: Once scholars have become more proficient readers and have developed greater fluency, it is important for them to become comprehensive readers. One of the most effective strategies for enhancing reading comprehension is summarization. Summarization is the act of obtaining the “meat” and “potatoes” from a text. The meat symbolizes what the whole text is about, while the potatoes symbolize the individual main points.
Materials: Individual copies of an article written about Zoo Animals receiving the Covid-19 vaccination. (URL below). Pencil and 2 sheets of paper (per student) Summarization Checklist (for teacher use) Quiz Questions (to be read aloud and completed on notebook paper)
Procedures: 1. Say: Today we will learn how to summarize text. Does anyone know what a summary is? Yes, summarizing or creating a summary is the act of breaking text up into one topic with its main points. Good readers remember these “chunks” of information in order to convey the important message the author is trying to convey.
2. Say: One method of summarization is the about-point method. In using this method, we will seek for what the text is all about and what the main point is. In order to find the main point, you must think of one term or statement that explains the author’s topic.
3. Say: I am going to show you how I would use the about-point method to summarize an article about zoo animals receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. Did you know that zoo animals could catch the Covid virus? How can we work to prevent the animals from getting ill? These are some questions we will consider while summarizing this text.
4. Here is a paragraph from the story: “In January, eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in California, became the first great apes to test positive for COVID “There was immediate concern,” Nadine Lamberski told TIME for Kids. She’s the chief conservation and wildlife health officer at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. “We wanted to take all precautions to make sure that didn’t happen again.”
This paragraph is about 8 gorillas that tested positive for Covid-19, but what important points does the author make about that main idea? Right, this main idea was cause for concern for the chief conservation and wildlife health officer. We also know that the chief planned to take precautions to keep the gorillas safe in the future.
5. Say: Now that I have demonstrated how to use the about-point summarization technique, I want you to try it out. Here is the paragraph:
“So Lamberski made a decision. In February, she gave nine other great apes an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. They were the first zoo animals in the United States to get one. Since then, shots have been shipped out to zoo animals in 27 states.”
What is this paragraph about? Yes, the chief gave nine other apes the vaccine. They were the first US zoo animals to get the shot, absolutely. This influenced other states to receive the vaccine for zoo animals, right on! How could we combine those ideas into one topic sentence? The chief made a decision that ultimately influenced other states to vaccinate their zoo animals.
6. Say: I want you to finish reading the article and use the about-point method to summarize each paragraph on one sheet of notebook paper. Once you are done, you should have created a good summary of the whole text. Remember, you are writing a brief version of the text in your own words, excluding any details that are not essential to the main idea. Non-essential information would be things such as trivia and/or examples. Once everyone has finished I will read out some questions about the article for you to answer on your second sheet of notebook paper.
Assessment:
Collect the student’s summaries and evaluate their summarization skills based on the checklist below:
Pulled important information ___ Significantly reduced the amount of text ___ Sentences connected ideas from each paragraph ___ Sentences are well-organized ___
Quiz Questions: How many gorillas initially got Covid-19? eight What was the reaction of the chief of conservation and wildlife health? concern Which gorillas received the vaccine? nine other gorillas What was the vaccine tested on originally? cats and dogs Why were zookeepers interested in getting the gorillas vaccinated? to prevent future illness How did zookeepers keep the animals still while they received their shot? they gained their trust through trials What was the reward for lions/tigers that did well while receiving their shot? a bloodsicle
Lesson Reference(s): Murray, B. Reading to Learn. Reading Lessons. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2021, from https://murraba.wixsite.com/reading-lessons/rl.
Alaimo, K. Reading to learn. Reading Lessons. (n.d.) Retrieved November 10, 2021, from https://alaimokelly9.wixsite.com/readinglessons/reading-to-learn.