Rationale: Summarization is a powerful strategy for comprehending a text. An effective method of summarization is called about-point. About-point asks two critical questions about the text 1. What is the text about? This question is usually easy, and it identifies the topic that becomes the subject of the topic sentence. 2. What is the main point the writer is making about that topic? To answer this question the reader must take the multiple topics throughput the reading and combine and put them under one term that covers them all.

 

Materials: Individual copies of Penguin article, each student has individual pencil and paper, summarization checklist and comprehension quiz (listed below), white board and dry erase marker

 

Procedures:

1. Say: When we read a text, we would spend a long time trying to remember every detail of the article we read. Good readers don’t try to remember everything, they use summarization strategies to remember the important points that the author makes about the topic. By doing this, the reader makes a long article much easier to remember.

2. Say: The best way to summarize is called about-point. When using About-point you ask yourself an easy question and a tough question, and you use your answers to make a topic sentence. The first easy question is “what is the text about?” and the second tough question is “what is the main point the writer is making about that topic?” To answer this question, you have to think of an umbrella term for all the important points the writer is telling you. An umbrella term is one term that covers the multiple topics the writer talks about.

3. Say: I’m going to show you how I would use about-point with a paragraph about Penguins, which is the article you will read today. Have you ever seen a penguin? Do you know where they live? Or what they like to eat? These are some of the questions and answers you will learn today.

4. Say: Let’s talk about an important vocabulary word you’ll be reading: region, this is an area of land that has common features. There are different regions all over the world. Alabama is in the southern region of the world. Now I want you all to come up with another sentence using this new vocabulary word. Call on students and write different examples on the board to make sure they understand the new word.

 

5. Here is a paragraph from the story:

 

There are 18 species, or types, of penguins. They are found mainly in the southern half of the world. Many types are found in the cold regions of Antarctica or nearby islands. Penguins also live along the cool coasts of Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and South America. The Galápagos penguin lives in a warm region off the coast of Ecuador.

 

This paragraph is about Penguins, but what important points is the writer making? There are different kinds of Penguins, 18 different species or types, and they are found southern parts of the world, cold regions, warm regions and cool coasts. Putting these points together, I can make a topic sentence: There are 18 species of Penguins and they can be found in multiple regions of the world.

6. Now I want you to use about-point on a paragraph:

 

A penguin typically has a black back and a white belly. Different types range in height from about 14–45 inches (36–114 centimeters). The largest type is the emperor penguin, which weighs about 80 pounds (36 kilograms). Penguins are excellent swimmers and divers. They can swim faster than 25 miles (40 kilometers) per hour. Penguins use their short, paddlelike wings as flippers for swimming. 

 

What is this paragraph about? Yes, how penguins look and how they swim. What are the main points the author is making about penguins? Right, they are different sizes. Another point is they are great swimmers. How could we combine those ideas in one sentence beginning: Penguins…? Penguins are different sizes and they use their wings to swim fast.

7. Now I’d like you to finish reading the article and use about-point to make a topic sentence for each paragraph. When you are finished you will have made a good summary of the article, which will help you remember important facts about Penguins. Don’t summarize examples or trivia because they are written to help you understand the main ideas. You are writing a short version of the article in your own words, including only the important ideas to remember. To make sure you remember we will have a quiz after everyone finishes writing.

Assessment: Collect each student’s summary of the article, and evaluate the summarization using this checklist:

___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

Quiz:

1. Can Penguins fly?

2. What do Penguins look like?

3. How many species of Penguins are there?

4. Are all Penguins the same size?

5. Where might you find a Penguin?

6. How do Penguins keep warm?

7. What do Penguins like to eat?

8. How do Penguins breed? Where?

9. Are Penguins fast? Explain how and in what ways?

 

 

Resources:

Penguin article  https://school.eb.com/levels/elementary/article/penguin/353611

Bruce Murray About-Point to Awaken the Main Idea https://murraba.wixsite.com/readinglessons/reading-to-learn

Reading Comprehension is Turtely Awesome https://ssedg21.wixsite.com/my-site-2/reading-to-learn By Annie Sedgwick 

Reading Genie here