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Reading to Learn
Let’s Summarize the Leopard!
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Rationale: Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading. Students who are at this level are ready to learn strategies better understand a text. This lesson introduces a strategy called about-point to help students learn to form a topic sentence about a paragraph by asking two questions. The first question asks “What is the text about?” and the second question asks “What is the main point the writer is making about the topic?” By finding the most important points that the author is making, students are learning to summarize a piece of text.
Materials:
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Individual copies of “Amur Leopard” article for each student
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Pencil and paper for each student
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Summarization checklist
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Comprehension quiz
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Dry erase board and marker
Procedures:
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Say: Have you ever read a book or watched a movie that you loved so much and wanted to tell your friends about it? When you explained the book or movie to them, did you tell them every single detail, or did you only mention the most important parts? If you have ever shortened a story like this by telling a friend the most important parts of a book or movie, you have practiced summarization! Summarization is a strategy that expert readers use to comprehend a book or article by only telling the most important parts through a summary. Summaries are important because you can’t remember everything, so you reduce what you read to remember the most important points that the author made about a topic.
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Say: One way we can summarize is by using a strategy called about-point. When we use about-point, you will ask yourself two different questions about your reading. You will answer an easy question, “What is the text about?” and a tough question, “What is the main point the writer is making about that topic?” [Write these two questions on the white board for students to have as reference.] When you answer the tough question, it will help you to identify an “umbrella” term that covers the important parts that the author has written. The answer to both of these questions will help you make a topic sentence.
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Say: Later in this lesson, I will model how to practice the about-point strategy with a paragraph in an article called “Amur Leopard.” You will read this article today while you practice summarization. Has anyone ever seen a leopard in real life? According to the article, blue whales can weigh up to 80 pounds! They are very fast animals, and they have a very interesting way of life in the savannas of Africa and many other different countries! In a few minutes, we will read the article to learn more about the Amur Leopard.
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Say: You need to know what the word habitat means to understand the paragraph that we will read together. Let’s look at habitat. Habitat is the natural home or environment of an animal, plant or other organism. Most animals are not fit for the harsh climate and environment in the leopard’s habitats. Which one of these uses habitat correctly? “My natural habitat is in my home.” Or “We are having habitat for dinner tonight.” Right, the first sentence is correct because habitat is the home of an animal. The second sentence in incorrect because a “habitat” is not something you can eat. Try finishing this sentence: I know that the habitat of a snake is… [Possible answers: a jungle, near a river, warm, etc.]
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Say: Now that we understand the word habitat, we will look at a paragraph from the article together: “Their soft, dense fur keeps them warm in the bitter cold, and their large paws work like snowshoes to let them walk on snow without sinking.” ​This paragraph is about how the soft fur of leopards keeps them warm in the cold and their paws let them walk easily through the snow. I can form a topic sentence by joining these two points: Leopards can walk on snow easily and comfortably since they have large paws and soft fur.
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Say: It’s your turn to try about-point! Read these sentences: ​ “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.”
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Say: What is this paragraph about? Correct, the prey of leopards. What are the main points that the author makes about leopards? Yes! They can catch prey up to three times their size. What is another point that the author makes? Right, they eat deer, boar, rabbits and mice. To make a topic sentence, you will put these points together! Let’s try: Leopards…? Leopards can catch prey up to three times their size and are not picky when it comes to eating.
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Say: Now, I want you to finish reading the article and write a topic sentence for each paragraph using about-point. This will allow you to have a strong summary of the whole article once you are finished. Your summary will help you remember the most important facts about leopards. Remember to answer both questions in about-point to help you form a topic sentence. You can look at the board for the questions if you need help. Don’t forget to only pick out the most important points that the author is making in each paragraph, and to summarize in your own words. When you are finished, staple your topic sentence page to the article and turn it in to me.
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I will review each student’s topic sentence page to determine if they successfully summarized the paragraphs of the article. I will use the assessment checklist to record student grades. The students will also take a brief comprehension quiz.
Checklist:
Student Name: ________________
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____ Wrote a topic sentence for each paragraph
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____ Deleted unimportant or repetitive information
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____ Significantly reduced the text from original to form summary
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____ Identified important points
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____ Successfully conjoined the important points to form a topic sentence
Quiz:
1. What keeps leopards warm in the cold climate?
2. How much does a leopard weigh?
3. What do Amur Leopards eat?
4. What is one of the rarest wild cats on Earth?
5. Are leopards found in places other than Africa?
6. What is the average life span of a leopard in the wild?
7. How long are leopards?
8. Are leopards being protected by law officials?
References:
“Amur Leopard” https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/amur-leopard/
Sea-ing Summarazation by Hannah Locklear https://hml0013.wixsite.com/literacydesigns/reading-to-learn
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