Putting It All Together With
Rationale: The main goal of reading is
Students can use many strategies to comprehend written text. One
the most important strategies for children to learn is
Summarization can be defined as finding the most important information
a reading. To effectively summarize a text, students must follow
rules including identify main information, delete trivial and redundant
and relate main and supporting ideas.
Reading to Learn
Materials: Copy of the article “Adventures of Xiao Pan” from
Ranger Rick magazine
for each student
1. Redundant information taken
2. Trivial information taken
3. Only main points included in
1. Explain what it means to summarize a text. “When
read we need to be able to pick out the important information in the
This will help us understand what we are reading. Summarizing means
able to find the most important information within the text. Stories
a lot of information and only some of it is necessary to help us
what the story is about. Today we are going to learn how to summarize
2. Review how to read silently. “I am going to give
of you an article about a panda named Xiao Pan, and I want you to read
it the first time silently. I don’t want to hear any sounds but instead
your eyes looking at each word as you read. Watch me as I read the
paragraph silently. (Demonstrate reading the first paragraph) Now I
all of you to try”.
3. After the students’ finish reading the article, I
ask some comprehension questions to make sure they comprehend the
they are reading. These will include Who, What, Where, When, and Why
“What is this article about?, Where was Xiao Pan born? Etc.”.
4. Explain how to ask each of the 5 W questions
questions should be written on chart paper and hanging where each
can see them) and demonstrate some of the questions that could be
“If I wanted to find the important information in this article I would
myself some of the following questions. “Where was Xiao Pan born?, What
he eat?, Where does he live? Etc.” Do you understand how to use these
to find out important information? (Class answers yes). Good now I want
of you to reread the article and answer the 5 W questions we just
Also be sure to pick out any important information you come across.”
5. “When you have finished reading the article and
the questions I want you to turn the answers into a paragraph and this
be your summary of the article. To turn it into a paragraph take your
facts and make them sentences. When all the sentences are put together
will have a paragraph. Remember it should only include the important
from the article.”
6. When the children turn in their summary paragraphs
will use the checklist mentioned above to make sure that each child has
correct idea of summarizing. I will know that they understand if I can
yes next to each statement.
Beason, Margaret. Summing It Up Can Be Fun!
“Adventures of Xiao Pan” Churchman, Deborah. Ranger Rick
Volume 37, Number 2. Pp. 30-37.
Anderson, Jenni. Summarization Station.
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