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READING TO LEARN

SWIMMING WITH SUMMARIZATION

Rationale:

After students have become more independent and fluent readers, summarization becomes essential. One summarization method is known as about-point. The about-point method uses two critical questions: 1. What is the text about? 2. What is the main point the writer is making about that topic? The first question identifies the topic that becomes the subject of the topic sentence. The second question pushes students to find an umbrella term that covers all the main points that the author is making. The main point becomes the predicate of the topic sentence. 

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Materials:

  • A copy of the article, Dolphins on Duty, for each student

  • Pencil for each student

  • Paper for each student

  • Summarization checklist 

  • Comprehension quiz for each student

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Procedures:

  1. First, explain to children why summarization is important. State, “when we read a text, we would spend all day trying to remember all the words and all the details. Good readers don’t try to remember everything. They 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 or thousands of words to a compact gist that is easy to remember”.

  2. State, “One way to summarize is called about-point. In about-point, you ask yourself an easier question and then a harder one. Then you use your answers to make a topic sentence. The easy question is ‘What is the text about?’ That doesn’t seem so hard does it? The tougher 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 of the important points the writer is telling you”.

  3. State, “In a few minutes, I’m going to show you how I do about-point with a paragraph on dolphins and the Navy, which is apart of the article you are going to be reading today. What do you know about dolphins? What type of qualities do they have? Why might have dolphins been chosen to help the Navy? How do they help the Navy? These are some of the questions you will be learning to answer today”.

  4. State, “Let’s talk about an important vocabulary word you’ll be reading: echolocation. Echolocation is when sea animals use sound to “see” underwater. For example, Dolphins use echolocation to “see” through murky water. What might dolphins need to use echolocation to see? Can you finish this sentence... The dolphin used echolocation to see ________ coming towards him. 

  5. Here is a paragraph from the story: 

 

“In April, a fishing boat was bobbing along in the Artic Ocean. As it sailed near the coast of Norway, a country in Europe, a fisherman on the boat spotted a beluga whale. The whale was wearing clips that hold a camera. Why would a whale need a camera? Could the animal be a spy? The answer just might be yes! The whale also had clips on its harness with the words ‘St. Petersburg.’ That’s the name of a city in Russia. Officials say this means the whale was likely trained by the Russian military as a spy. This may seem a bit fishy. But whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals are used to help militaries around the world. That includes the United States military. The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program currently has more than 100 sea animals protecting our country from underwater threats.”

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        This paragraph is about sea animals, but what important points is the author making? Sea animals are used in military programs all across the world. Such animals can be used as “spies” helping to protect us from underwater threats. By putting these points together, I can make a topic sentence: Sea animals are important to many countries throughout the world because of their ability to protect us from major underwater threats.  

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

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“The Navy program started in 1959. In the early years, the Navy tested out more than a dozen animals, including sharks, sea turtles, and birds. Today just two species are used: bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions. ‘The Navy’s dolphins and sea lions perform missions that the Navy cannot yet accomplish in any other way,’ says Mark Xitco. He’s the director of the program. Both animals are very smart and easy to train. And both can quickly adapt to different environments, like shallow waters or deep seas. But there are more dolphins in the program because they use echolocation. That means they use sound to “see” underwater!”

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       State, “what is this paragraph about? Yes, dolphins. What are the main points the author is making about dolphins? correct, Dolphins and sea lions are used in the Navy because they are easy to train, they are smart, and can adapt to different environments. Yes, another point is dolphins are the most beneficial to the Navy because they can use echolocation to “see” underwater. How could we combine those ideas in one sentence beginning: Dolphins…? Dolphins are chosen to work in the Navy because they are smart, easy to train, can quickly adapt, and can use echolocation”.

 

  7.  State, “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 dolphins. Don’t summarize examples or pictures; they are only written to help you understand the main ideas. You are writing a short version of the article in your own words, including only the important ideas to remember. And to make sure you remember; we will have a quiz after everyone finishes writing”. 

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Summary Assessment Checklist:

Collect each student’s summary of the article, and evaluate the summarization using the following checklist

_____ Collected important information

_____ Ignored examples and pictures in summary

_____ Significantly reduced the text from the original

_____ Sentences brought ideas together from each paragraph

_____ Sentences organized coherently into essay form

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Comprehension Quiz:

  1. What two species are used to help the Navy?

  2. Why did the Navy choose these two animals?

  3. Why are dolphins more commonly used in the program?

  4. What is echolocation?

  5. What type of missions might the dolphins perform?

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References:

Adapted from - Dr. Murray

Using About-Point to Awaken the Main Idea

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Resources:

Dolphins on Duty by Tricia Culligan

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