Summarization and Smiles

Reading to Learn Design

Rationale: Summarization is one of the two most powerful strategies when comprehending text. An effective method of summarizing is called about-point, which asks two critical questions about the text. The first question, “What is the text about? “is usually an easy, surface-level question, and it identifies the topic that becomes the subject of the topic sentence. The second question, “What is the main point the writer is making about that topic?” is a more challenging question for students. Since the author usually makes several points, the reader must “superordinate” the points. This means to find an umbrella term that covers all the main points the author is making. The main point becomes the predicate of the topic sentence.Once both questions are answered, students are able to come up with a topic sentence summarizing the text, where the answer to question one is the subject and the answer to question two is the predicate.

Materials:

· Individual copies of an article written for kids on the dentist from KidsHealth.org

· Pencil and lined paper for each student

· Highlighters

· Summarization checklist

· Comprehension quiz (below)

Procedures:

1. Say “When we read a text, we could spend all day trying to remember all the words and all the details. Good readers don’t try to remember everything. It is important that we are able to summarize. Good readers use summarization strategies to remember only the important points the author is making about the topic. In that way, they reduce a text that may have hundreds of words to a compact idea that is easy to remember.Today, we are going to read an srticle and practice a summarization strategy to help us remember the important points.”

2. Say “The best strategy to summarize is called about-point. When using about-point, you ask yourself an easy question and a tough question. Then, you use your answers to make a topic sentence. The easy question is "What is the text about?" The 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.Once we have answered these two questions, we can combine the two answers to create a topic sentence for the text.”

3. Say “I’m going to show you how I would do about-point with a paragraph from our article about the dentist you will be reading today. Have you ever been to the dentist? What happens at the dentist? How does the dentist clean your teeth? What are cavities and how can we prevent them? These are some of the questions you will be learning to answer today.”

4. Say “Before we read the article, let’s talk about an important vocabulary word you’ll be reading: examine. Knowing this word will help us understand the article better. Examine means to look at or check carefully. We examine things every day. What are some other examples using the word examine? For example, ‘The police examine the evidence carefully.’ Have you ever examined anything? What do teachers examine? Finish this sentence: Before getting ready to go swim at the pool, I examined the sky for...”

5. Say “Lets read some of the story together. Here is a paragraph from the story:

The dentist is a doctor who is specially trained to care for teeth. When you visit for a checkup, your dentist will look at your teeth and gums to check for any problems. The dentist also wants to make sure your teeth are developing properly as you grow. The dentist or hygienist will clean and polish your teeth, using tiny dental tools like a tooth scraper, mirror, and special toothbrush. It's important to visit your dentist every 6 months to make sure you're taking good care of your teeth and that your teeth and gums are healthy.

This paragraph is about the dentist, but what important points is the writer making? The dentist is a doctor who will check both your teeth and gums for problems and proper development. The dentist uses a variety of tools to clean your teeth. You are supposed to visit the dentist every 6 months. Putting these points together, I can make a topic sentence: The dentist is a doctor who looks at your teeth, they will examine your teeth for problems and use special tools to clean them.”

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

During your visit, the dentist carefully looks for cavities. You may also have X-rays, or pictures, taken of your teeth. X-rays are like superhuman vision. They can show cavities hiding between your teeth and problems beneath your gums. The dental hygienist will place a thick blanket over your chest (to protect your body from the high-energy waves) and put a piece of plastic (that holds the X-ray film) into your mouth.

What’s this paragraph about? Yes, cavities. What are the main points the author is making about cavities? Correct, dentists will use X-rays to look for cavities hiding in your teeth. Yes, another point is that X-rays use energy rays to take pictures like superhuman vision. How could we combine those ideas in one sentence beginning: Dentists…?

Dentists check for cavities using a tool called an X-ray, which uses energy waves to take pictures of your teeth.”

7. Say “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 the dentist. Make sure to not include trivia or examples in your summary You are writing a short version of the article in your own words, including only the important ideas to remember. We will have a quiz after everyone finishes writing!”

Assessment: Collect each student’s summary paragraphs, and them based on the following:

__ Collected informationthat is important

__ 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

__ Short paragraph in complete sentences

Comprehension Quiz:

1. What is a dentist specially trained to care for?

2. What are things your dentist will check for when examining health and development?

3. How does the dentist use different tools at your visit?

4. What is plaque?