Rationale: When students have learned to read fluently, students must move to the next level of reading: summarizing. Summarizing is a great way to help readers focus on the significant parts of a text and comprehend what they are reading.  Once readers can identify the main points of an article, they become a more accurate researcher, writer, and reader. Through this lesson, students will learn reading comprehension so they can more easily summarize their readings. During this lesson, students will get the opportunity to analyze a number of articles in an attempt to find the main points of the text. Through these practices, the students will gain experience in summarization and eventually, acquire the necessary skills to summarize an article simply by reading it once.

 

Materials:  

• Individual copies of Candy Facts: Lessons for Kids   

• Pencil  

• Paper 

• Summarization checklist 

• Comprehension quiz  

 

Procedures: 

1. Say: “ Today we are going to learn about summarization. Can anyone tell me what it means to summarize? [wait for student to answer] Great Job! Summarizing is when we take important points an author makes in a text, like a book or an article, and leave behind the information that is not as important. It can be challenging to remember everything that happens in a story or all the facts given in an article but using summarization will help us remember everything that was important. Today, we are going to learn more about summarization by reading a text and then narrowing down the important points. We will write a few sentences to help us remember the key points that the author has made about the topic.”

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2. Say: “The best way to use summarization is to use the ‘about-point’ method. When you use the “about-point” method you ask yourself two questions. The first and easiest one is, “what is the text about?” The hardest question is, “what is the main point the writer is making about that topic?”. This question is the toughest because you have to think of a way to summarize all of the important points that the author has made. Once you form your answers you can use them to create a topic sentence.” 

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3. Say: “We are going to practice the about-point strategy with an article about candy! What is everyone’s favorite type of candy? Does anyone know how to make candy?  [Have students answer and explain.] My favorite type of candy is Snickers. I know that candy is trickier to make than one would think. Let’s all learn together! ” [Pass out articles to each student]

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4. Say: “Before we read, we are going to talk about an unfamiliar word that some of us may not know. The unfamiliar word is molasses. Molasses is a thick, dark brown syrup which is used in baking. For example, the word ‘molasses’ is a key ingredient to make candy. Listen to the word ‘molasses’ in a sentence: “When this mixture is spun rapidly, the white sugar crystals separate from the molasses, and that's where we get sugar!” How do you think the molasses helps make candy?   [Call on one student to answer and explain]

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5. Say:  “Let’s read a paragraph to learn more about how candy is made!” 

“Ingredients must be accurately measured and heated in order for the candy to come out exactly the same each time. Hard candies are made by dissolving the sugar crystals in a liquid, then heating the liquid to a temperature over 300 degrees! The liquid is poured on a surface or in a mold, and when it cools, it turns back into a hard solid known as hard candy.” 

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Say: “Wow, how cool! I never knew that candy was made that way. Let's review… What are some key points that the author made? This paragraph discusses the process of how candy is made. After reading and recognizing the main ideas, I can combine these ideas to make a topic sentence: Candy must be made in a precise order or else it will not come out correctly.”

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6. Say: “Now it’s your turn to try the about-point method using this paragraph from the article! 

“All candy has one ingredient in common: sugar! The sugar used for candy comes mostly from special beets called sugar beets. The beets are first squeezed and then shredded to get the sweet juice out. The juice contains sugar crystals and a syrupy by-product called molasses. When this mixture is spun rapidly, the white sugar crystals separate from the molasses, and that's where we get sugar! When the sugar is added to different ingredients, the result is a sweet treat.”

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7. Say: “What is this paragraph telling us? Candy is mainly made from sugar. The sugar comes from a plant that creates a juice called molasses. Once the liquid is heated, it turns into candy! What point is the author making? That candy is made through a long, extensive process and requires detail and patience. How can we combine both of these points? [Have students respond] That’s right,! Candy is made from a liquid called molasses, which eventually turns into sugar, and takes a long time to perfect.”

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8. Say: “Now I want you to finish reading the article and use the about-point method to make your own topic sentences for each section. When you finish, you should have the whole article summarized on your own! This will help you remember the important facts about candy. Remember to just pick out the meaningful information. The point of summarizing is to shorten all the main points into simple sentences. After everyone has finished, we will take a short quiz to see what you remember about candy and how it’s made.”

 

Assessment:

Collect each student’s summary of the article and evaluate their summarization abilities with the Summarization Assessment Checklist.

 

Summarization Assessment Checklist:

__ Used important information specifically from the article

__ No trivial examples from the article

__ Significantly reduced text from the original article

__ Contains an idea from each section of the article

__ Organized summary into a 3-5 sentence summary

__ Answered both questions provided by the about-point method

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Comprehension Quiz:

1. Does candy need to be accurately measured when made? 

2.What is the liquid from the sugar beets called? 

3. How is sugar made? 

4. How many degrees does it need to be for hard candy to be cooked? 

 

References: 

Class article: Candy Facts: Lessons for Kids 

Whale You Learn to Summarize? by Margaret James Stephens