Procedures: 

1. Say: We all want to be to be great readers, right? Well, then we must understand what we are reading. Today we are going to learn summarization. This will help us understand the message of what we are reading. Does anyone know what it means to summarize. [listen for answers.] Correct! Summarizing means to find the most important ideas in the text, to ignore the unimportant information, and then organize it in a meaningful way. Basically, you are taking the most important parts of the passage and making it smaller. It is hard to remember all of the things that you read in a long passage, so a summary is a great way to remember what you read later. First, we are going to practice summarizing together and then you are going to try it on your own. 

2. Say: When summarizing there are a few rules you need to remember. First, you must pick out all of the important information. Next, you have to delete or cross out all of the unnecessary information. Then, you need to take that information and make it easier to read if you can. Finally, you need to select or invent a topic sentence to begin your summary with. You are going to summarize an article about a koala who wears special mittens but first we are going to practice a few times. 

3. Say: In the article you will read on your own you may come across some vocabulary that you may not know. There are some hard words, like the word marsupial. A marsupial is a mammal who carries its young in a pouch on its belly. If you see any other words you do not know underline them and we will go over them as a class. 

4. Say: Now together we are going to summarize the paragraph I put on the board. I will model how to summarize the passage by crossing out unimportant information, gathering important information, and putting what I know into a sentence. Make sure to pay attention to what I do so that you can do it when you are working on your own.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Paragraph: Green sea turtles are one of the world’s largest species of turtle, weighing around 64-130kg and measuring between 1-1.2m long. They have a strong, tear-drop shape shell, called a ‘carapace’, which covers most of their body, except for their head and four flippers. Their carapace can include shades of different colors, including dark brown, green, olive, yellow, and black. So, why are they called “green” sea turtles, then? Well, these cool creatures are named for their layer of green fat that lies under their shell. Scientists believe their unusual quirky-colored fat is the result of their veggie diet – unlike most other sea turtles, the green sea turtle eats marine plants such as seaweed and sea grass.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Say: As I was reading, I crossed out the numbers for the weight and length of the turtle we don’t need to know that. However, it is important to know they are the largest species of turtle, so I’ll keep that. While it is interesting to know the scientific name for the turtle’s shell, we don’t need it for our summary. I would also cross out the “why are they called green sea turtles” sentence.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Summary: Green sea turtles are one of the world’s largest species of turtle. They have a large shell which covers all but their head and four flippers. They are named because their green color that comes from their vegetable diet. 

5. Say: Now, we are going to try and summarize a paragraph together. I’ve put up a different article on the board and I want you to tell me what sentences to keep, what sentences to discard, and how to rephrase some of the sentences.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Paragraph: Despite many attempts to find the wreck, Titanic remained hidden from the world for around 70 years. It wasn’t until 1985 that she was seen again – when oceanographer (a sea scientist) Dr. Robert Ballard set out on a deep-sea mission in the Argo, a robot submarine. The team discovered Titanic on the seabed, nearly 600km off the coast of Canada.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Say: What is the main idea? What things do I need to underline? (allow students to answer) What can I cross out? Do I need to replace any words? (allow students to answer)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Summary: The wreck of the Titanic was discovered by Dr. Robert Ballard in a robot submarine.

6. Say: Now that you all have some practice it is time for you to try summarizing a text on your own. You will read an article about a koala who wears special mittens and then you will try to summarize it. What rules do you need to remember when summarizing? Right! When you are done turn to the person next to you and talk about what you wrote down. I will walk around and check your progress while you are working. 

7. Assessment: I will assess the students’ knowledge by their summarizations. With that, I will decide which students need extra help and will make a small group to work more on summarizing. I will also call every student up to my desk and ask them comprehension questions.