Allison King's

• Rationale: In order for students to work towards maximum comprehension, they need to learn how to summarize texts through identifying main idea sentences within a text. When students are reading to learn they are exercising their summarization skills. As students summarize, they practice eliminating unimportant details in texts in order to focus on the main idea of what they are reading. In this lesson, students will read the article “Sea Otter” and ask themselves “What is the author trying to tell me in this article?”. By doing this, students are using tools to learn to summarize key points from a text in their own words.

• Materials:

  • Class set of “Sea Otter” article

  • Class set of highlighters

  • Class set of summarization checklist

    • Highlighted important facts

    • Wrote a summary sentence for each paragraph

    • Summary contains important points and does not include unimportant details

    • Sentences accurately summarize the article

  • Class set of comprehension quiz

    1. Why do otters have webbed feet and water-repellent fur?

    2. What do otters do in order for them to not float away?

    3. What are three types of snacks otters like to have?

    4. Why is it important that otters keep their coat clean?

    5. Where can sea otters be found living?

• Procedures:

  1. Say: “Have you guys ever read a text, read to the end of it, and not gotten the main point of the text? Maybe instead you remembered little details instead? Today, we are going to talk about summarizing and what kinds of questions we can ask ourselves while we are reading to help ourselves summarize what we are reading. When we summarize, we pull out the main points in articles to use to describe what the text is saying in our own words.”

  2. Say: “Before we read our article, I am going to show you all how to summarize texts when reading. We are going to pick out the main idea and highlight important facts that support our claim. When we are trying to pick out the main idea we need to ask ourselves ‘what is the article about and what is the main point the author is trying to tell me?’. The answers to these questions will give you an ‘umbrella term’ that tells you the most important parts of the text and helps you create a topic sentence in your summary.”

  3. Say: “I have an article for us about sea otters that we are going to read. Who can tell me something about sea otters? (let students respond) Wow, it looks like we already know a little bit about sea otters. Sea otters are actually part of the weasel family, interesting huh? Does anyone know why they may have water repellent fur? (wait for responses) Yes! They need water repellent fur to stay dry and warm.”

  4. Say: “Before we read, we need to talk about some words that are a little tough. First let’s look at the word repellent. Repellent means able to repel a particular thing, which means to drive or force back or away. Repellent is something that makes another thing go away. So when the article says sea otters have water repellent fur, that means that their fur makes water go away so they do not stay wet. You would not say that repellent attracts things, because it makes things stay away, like mosquito repellent makes mosquitos stay away from you. Which one of these sentences uses the word repellent correct? ‘The paint had water repellent in it so the walls never stained.’ or ‘The open can of tuna was repellent to all the cats that ran on the porch when I opened it.’ That’s right the first sentence is correct because it uses the word to describe that the paint kept water stains off the wall. The second sentence is wrong because the tuna smell attracted the cats. Try to finish this sentence: Repellent smells make me ______ (potential answers: sick, cry, feel gross). The next word we are going to look at is insulation (go through same steps of definition, example and nonexample, and usage in a sentence).”

  5. Say: “Now, we are going to read the first few sentences of ‘Sea Otter’ together. ‘Sea otters are part of the weasel family. They have webbed feet, water-repellent fur to keep them dry and warm, and nostrils and ears that close in the water. Sea otters often float at the water’s surface in the forests of kelp, or giant seaweed, and entangle themselves to keep from moving in the rolling sea.’ We know that we are reading about sea otters, but what are the most important points the author is making about otters? Sea otters are in the weasel family. They have water repellent fur and float in forests of kelp. You need to highlight the important points we pick out. We can put all of these main facts together to make a topic sentence like this, ‘Sea otters are related to weasels, have water repellent fur, and like to float in kelp forests.’

  6. Say: “Now you all are going to read the next paragraph. When you read it and afterwards make sure you ask yourselves ‘what is the article about and what is the main point the author is trying to tell me?’. (Paragraph: ‘While floating on their back, sea otters not only nap, but also use rocks to help them open mussels or other shellfish. Otters place a rock on their chests and smash the shellfish against it until it breaks open to reveal the tasty meat inside. They also snack on such aquatic creatures as sea urchins, crabs, squid, octopuses, and fish.’)

  7. Say: “Okay friends, now that you have summarized that paragraph, go ahead and read the rest of the article, repeating the steps we have taken to write sentences summarizing each sentence. Doing this for each paragraph will form a summary of the entire text. Once you have created a summary, you will remember the important facts about sea otters and not the small, unimportant details. Remember to ask yourselves the questions to determine what the main point is and make sure to highlight your important points in the text. Only pick out the main points in the paragraphs and put them in your own words. Afterwards, bring me your work and come pick up a quiz on the article we have been reading.”

• References

Kaleigh Coltrain: A Sloth’s Summarization https://klc0083.wixsite.com/mysite/rl

 

“Sea Otters” https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/sea-otter/#sea-otter-closeup2.jpg

 

Link Back to Advancements: http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/classroom/advancements/