Miss Breanna's Designs

Rationale: In this lesson, we will focus on students reading to learn. Students need to be able to comprehend texts when learning to read which includes the ability to summarize. Students can use the about-point method to help summarize larger texts. The about-point method has students ask themselves two questions after reading the text: what is the text about and what is the main point the author is trying to make about the topic? The first question serves as the subject of the topic sentence which covers the general idea of what the text explains. The second question comes from analyzing the text at a deeper level by subordinating points from the passage. Readers must find an umbrella term that identifies the main points the author is writing about which will then become the predicate of the topic sentence. Students will learn how to summarize a specific text in this lesson by using the about-point method.

 

Materials:

• Individual copies of Leopard article 

• Pencil and paper for each student 

• Summarization checklist

• Comprehension quiz (below) 

 

Procedures:

1. Say: “Does anyone know what it means to summarize something? [Let students answer and then explain.] Summarizing is when we take all of the important parts an author makes in a text, like a book or an article, and leave behind the information that is not as important. We can’t always remember everything that happened in a story or all the facts in an article, so we use summarization to 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 by writing a few sentences to help us remember the key points the author made about the topic.”

 

2. Say: “We are going to summarize our text by using the about-point method. This method has us ask ourselves two questions after reading the article: what the text is about and what is the main point the writer is trying to make? To help us answer the second question, we need to think of an umbrella term or a category to combine all the important points made in the text.”

 

3. Say: “We are going to practice the about-point strategy with an article about leopards! Does anyone want to share something interesting they know about leopards? [Have students answer and explain.] I know that leopards can run very fast and are a type of cat.  They are a very unique animal! In the text we read, we are going to learn more about leopards and how they live!” [Pass out article to each student.]

 

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 habitat.  A habitat is where a plant or animal lives . The word is used in the passage, “Most people think of leopards prowling the savannas of Africa, but these spotted predators thrive in many different countries and habitats.Say “In order to summarize and understand what we are reading, it is important to make sure we know what all the words in the passage mean. We are going to go over an important vocabulary word that you will see in the article that we are going to read today: habitat. A habitat is where a plant or animal lives . The word is used in the passage, “Most people think of leopards prowling the savannas of Africa, but these spotted predators thrive in many different countries and habitats. Which of these is an example of a habitat? Mountainous forests or mammals? The first one is correct because a mountainous forest describes where an animal lives.The second option, mammals, describes what type of animal it is. 

 

5. Say “Here is a paragraph from the story:

 

Loss of habitat and poaching have made Amur leopards one of the rarest wild cats on Earth—and the world’s rarest leopard. Thanks in part to a newly established national park along the Russian and Chinese border, however, Amur leopards are clawing their way back. Since the 647,400-acre refuge dubbed Land of the Leopard National Park was created in 2012, the Amur leopard population has jumped to about 80 individuals in 2018, up from only about 30 in the early 2000s. Officials believe that effective law enforcement in the park will help keep the population climbing. So hopefully, even more of these leopards will be spotted soon.

 

This paragraph is about leopards, but what important points is the writer making? Leopards are becoming rare because of the loss of habitat. A national park is trying to help this problem by becoming a refuge for these animals. Hopefully, we will continue to see the population of leopards rise.  Putting these points together, I can make a topic sentence: Amur leopards became one of the rarest cats on Earth but thanks to the national park, officials hope to see a rise in the population. 

 

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

Amur leopards weigh about 80 pounds, some 30 pounds less than the average African leopard. But these cats can still take down prey up to three times their size. They prefer to feast on deer and boar, but will eat rabbits and mice if they can’t find bigger game. 

 

What is this paragraph about? Right, Amur  leopards. What are the main points the author is making about leopards? Correct, they can take down prey up to three times their size. Another point is that Amur leopards can weigh thirty pounds less than the average Afrcian leopard.  How could we combine those ideas into a topic sentence? Right, Although Amur leopards can weigh less than other types of leopards, they can still take down prey three times their size.

 

7. Now I would 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 leopards. To make sure you remember, we will have a quiz after everyone finishes writing. 

 

Summary rubric:

_____ Student underlined/highlighted important ideas (Yes or No)

_____ Student crossed out unimportant detail (Yes or No)

_____ Summary used 1+ complete sentences in their summary (Yes or No)

_____ Student identified topics accurately in summary (Yes or No)

_____ Student included key ideas in summary (Yes or No) 

 

Comprehension Question Exit Slip:

1. What type of animal is an Amur Leopard? Mammal

2. Where can these leopards be found? Eastern Russia and Northern China

3. How much do Amur leopards weigh? Around 80 pounds

4. What do these leopards prefer to feast on? Deer and Boar

5. Why are Amur leopards one of the rarest wild cats on Earth? Loss of Habitat and Pooching 

 

References:

Article: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/amur-leopard/

Caroline Colley, Turtle-lly Awesome Summarization https://mcc0052.wixsite.com/mysite/reading-to-learn

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