Swimming with Dolphins for Summarization
Reading to Learn Design
By: Kaitlyn Barnes
Rationale: Once students have mastered reading fluently, they will need to learn how to summarize texts. Summarization uses an effective method called about-point. In this method, there are two critical questions that are asked about the text. They are: 1.) What is the text about? 2.) What is the main point the writer is making about that topic? The first question helps students identify the topic, which will be the subject in the topic sentence. The second question makes students pull out the main idea from the many points the author makes. This main idea will become the predicate in the topic sentence.
Materials:
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Copy of the National Geographic Bottlenose Dolphin article-one for each student (URL below)
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An overhead with the two paragraphs from the article
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Paper and a pencil for each individual student
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Summarization checklist
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Comprehension quiz for each student.
Procedures:
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Teacher says: “You all know when you read a story how excited you are to tell every single detail and event that happened? (Let students nod or answer) Well, that would take way too long to try and remember all those details of a story or article. We all want to be awesome readers, which means we need to learn how to use the process of summarization. Summarization is used to remember the important details or points that the author makes about the topic. When we use summarization, we can take a text that is filled with many words and break it down to get the main idea.”
2.Teacher says: “Did you all know that there is one way to summarize that is the best one to use, it is called about-point. This strategy is where you ask yourself two questions, one that is easy: “what is the text about?” and then one that is a little harder: “what is the main point the writer is making about that topic?”. To answer the harder question, we must create a main idea from the many different points the author is writing about.”
3. Teacher says: “I am going to show you all how to do about-point summarization with a chunk of our article on Bottlenose Dolphins. Some of the questions you all will be answering today are: How many of you, by a show of hands, have seen a Bottlenose Dolphin before? (Let children answer, by raising their hands) Do you all know what type of things they eat? Do you all know where they live? Do you know what kind of sounds they make?”
4. Teacher says: An important vocabulary word you all will be reading about is the word echolocation. Echolocation is a sonar system that dolphins use by producing clicking noises to find things and determine their location. When the clicking sounds hit an object in the water, they bounce back to the dolphin as echoes. These echoes tell the dolphins the shape, speed, size, and distance of the object. Now, finish this sentence: Dolphins use echolocation to…
5.Teacher says: “Here is a paragraph from our article (show paragraph on the projector)”
“These sea mammals feed on , , and shrimp. A group of dolphins will cooperate to make a mud ring to trap fish. Then, some of the dolphins in the group will wait outside the ring for the fish that try to escape, gulping them up as a snack.”
“This paragraph is all about what dolphins eat and how they catch their food, but what are some of the important points the author is making? Dolphins eat fish, squid, and shrimp. Dolphins will form a group called a mud ring to trap their food. Now, I can put these different points together to make a topic sentence: Dolphins catch fish, squid, and shrimpy by forming a mud ring to trap them.”
6. Teacher says: Now, I want you all try about-point on a paragraph:
“Bottlenose dolphins are found in warm water all over the world. They live both in shallow water close to shore and far out in deep dark water. Dolphins face a lot of problems with getting trapped in the garbage humans leave on the beach.”
Teacher asks: “What is this paragraph about? (Let students answer) That is right! This paragraph talks about where dolphins live. What are the main points the author is making about where they live? (Let students raise their hands to answer) Awesome job boys and girls! Bottlenose dolphins are found in warm water all over the world. They can be found in both shallow and deep water. They sometimes get trapped in garbage that ends up in the ocean. How do you all think we could put those ideas together to make a topic sentence? Bottlenose Dolphins love in warm water in shallow and deep areas, but they sometimes get stuck in trash that floats into the ocean.”
7. Teacher says: You all are going to finish reading the article and using the about-point method to make your own topic sentences for each paragraph. When you all have finished you will have made your first summary of an article. This will help you remember the really important facts about bottlenose dolphins. You all are writing a short version of this article in your own words, with important ideas to remember. There will be a quiz when everyone finishes writing their summaries.
Assessment: Collect every student’s summary and use the checklist to evaluate their summarization.
___ Student gathered important info from the article only
___ Student has topic sentence for each paragraph in the article
___ Students left out summarization of trivia knowledge
___ Student significantly reduced the text from the original article forming a summarization
___ Student has organized the topic sentences into an essay form
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What is the name of the sonar system Dolphins use to find things?
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Are Bottlenose Dolphins social animals?
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Where are Bottlenose Dolphins mostly found?
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How many feet long can they be?
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How high can they leap in the air?
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Where in the Dolphin’s body does sound travel through?
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References:
Anne Lupo, Swimming into Summarization
