Reading to Learn

RATIONALE

Reading is the first step in learning. In order to comprehend long texts, students must practice their ability to summarize long texts. When reading, it is important for students to be able to differentiate between important and unimportant information so that they can recall the main ideas of a passage. This lesson will teach students how to pick out the important information in a long text, summarize the text, and then demonstrate their understanding of the whole text.

MATERIALS

Pencil, black colored pencil, and highlighter for each student
Blank sheet of paper for each student
“Bull Shark” National Geographic Kids article for each student
Whiteboard
Comprehension Questions written on board
Rubric for each student (filled out by teacher) - attached at bottom

PROCEDURE

Say: Have you ever read a book you thought was really cool and wanted to tell your friend about it? You don’t go reread the entire book to your friend do you? No, you just tell them the important parts right? Does any one know what we call this? (Give students a chance to answer) Its called summarization! Summarizing books is very helpful when we want to recall the main ideas and the important information. It also can be very useful in helping you to understand what you just read. So today we are going to read an article about jaguars and practice our summarization skills!
Say: Before we dive into our articles, let’s talk about what we already know about bull sharks. Does anyone know any cool facts about bull sharks? [Allow students to respond and write any responses on the board] Many experts say that bull sharks are the most dangerous sharks in the world. Usually we think of great white sharks as the scariest sharks, so why do you think bull sharks are considered the most dangerous? Let’s read the article and find out!
Say: We’re going to read the first part of the story together, and I’ll show you how to summarize/ Then you’ll get to summarize the rest of the story on your own. We are going to read the story very closely, pretending as if we are investigators! Follow along with me as I read the first part of the story.
Say: Okay, who can give me a summary of what we just read?” [Give different students a chance to give their summaries and assist as needed. Jot down some of their summaries on the board] Let’s take a look at my copy of this paragraph on the SmartBoard. Notice how I highlighted important details and crossed out details that were not important. That helps me keep facts straight and the main idea in mind. [Model sample below on board]

Bull sharks are the most dangerous sharks in the world, according to many experts. This is because they're an aggressive species of shark, and they tend to hunt in waters where people often swim: along tropical shorelines.

5. Explain: To review, the main topic or first sentence tells us what the paragraph will be about. Our first sentence talked about how the bull shark is the most dangerous species of sharks in the world. And then the paragraph tells us why. It is important to know why they are dangerous so I highlighted the supporting information. I crossed out “according to many experts” because although this may seem important, it doesn’t explain why they are dangerous. So some information is more important than other information in a paragraph, identifying which information is helpful is going to help you summarize more effectively. Now I’m going to give you all a chance to try this on your own. Remember that there’s not always a black and white, right or wrong answer, so just do your best!

6. Say: Let’s read more about our friends the Bull Sharks. I am also giving you a black colored pencil and a highlighter. As you read, highlight details that you think are important and contribute to the main idea of the story. Take the black colored pencil and cross out the details that you do not think are important. The main idea of this story is to give you more information on bull sharks. There is a lot of information on these animals, so pick facts that are main ideas. For example, where they live, what they eat, are they endangered, etc.

7. When you’ve finished reading and marking the story, I want you to summarize it in 6 sentences or less. Remember to only include main ideas and details. Don’t include any of the details that you crossed out, only the ones that you have highlighted. Write in complete sentences and use correct punctuation. The most important thing is not to copy the text just like it is but put it in your own words.

8. Before you read, let’s go over a little vocabulary that you’ll see in the passage so you’ll know what it means. [Write these on the board as well, with an example sentence so students may reference back]

Aggressive- likely to attack or go after something.

Why are bull sharks more dangerous than other sharks?
Since bull sharks are an aggressive species of sharks, they are more likely to be very ferocious when they are hunting for food.
A species that isn’t very aggressive like whale sharks might….

9. When you’ve finished reading and summarizing, I want you to come put your papers on the front table. Okay, now let’s get to reading and summarizing. [Allow 20-25 minutes for students to summarize]

10. After students turn in their summarizations, hand out the comprehension questions and have them answer those on their own. Grade those for accuracy to assess their comprehension.

Comprehension Questions:

What kind of water do bull sharks live in?
How can bull sharks live in freshwater?
Humans are not part of bull shark’s normal prey, so why might a bull shark bite a human?

Rubric-

Student Name:

Date:

Student clearly read article all the way through and used information from different paragraphs.

____ / 3

Picked out information using methods taught in class.

_____ / 2

Deleted unimportant details.

_____ / 1

Wrote a short paragraph summarizing most important details from the article.

____ / 4

Total Points and comments: