Rationale: Summarization is a powerful strategy for comprehending a text. Summarization involves sorting through all of the information and selecting the most important points by composing topic sentence. About-point is a powerful summarization technique which is what students will focus on throughout this lesson. This technique involves first answering the question “What is the text about?” Then students will answer the critical summarization question “What is the main point the writer is trying to make about the topic?” The second question is a much harder question because students must distinguish which point of information is the most important piece. In this lesson, the teacher will explain summarization, model how to summarize, review vocabulary, and provide students with an opportunity to summarize a text individually.

 

Materials:

• Individual copies of "The Three Branches of Government" (Scholastic Magazine)

• Pencil and paper for each student

• Summarization checklist

• Comprehension quiz

 

Procedures:

1. Say: “If you were going to read a text, it would be very hard for you to remember every single word in detail. Good readers do not try to remember everything they read; instead, they summarize what they have read to understand the main information in a text. Today we are going to be using about-point summarization. This is when we read a paragraph and ask ourselves two questions to help us better understand what we just read. The two questions are “What is the text about?” and “What is the main point the writer is making about that topic?” The second question is the harder of the two because you have to decide which information is the most important, but we will have some practice time so that you can become an expert at about-point summarization.”

2. Say: “I am going to show you how to do about-point with one paragraph from the article you will read today called “The Three Branches of Government”. Does anyone know what the three branches of government are? What are their names? What are their individual roles? What are checks and balances? After, today’s reading, you will be able to answer those questions!”

3. Say: “First, let’s discuss an important vocabulary word you’ll read in today’s text: enforce. Enforce means to make sure that a law, rule, or obligation is observed and followed. Words that have similar meanings to enforce are apply or carry out. For example, in a classroom it is the teacher’s job to enforce the classroom rules. Can you think of another instance in which someone is enforcing something on someone else or a group of people? Finish this sentence for me: My parents enforce __________ on me.”

4. The text we are going to read today discusses the three branches of government. Here is a paragraph from the story:

          The number of representatives per state is based on each state’s population. Currently, there are 435 representatives. These representatives                are elected to two-year terms. 

 

This paragraph is about the legislative branch, specifically the House of Representatives. What point is the writer trying to make? There are 435 representatives in the entirety of the House of Representatives. The number of representatives for each state is determined by the state’s population. Putting these points together, I can make a topic sentence: Each state’s number of representatives in the House is determined by the state’s population, so currently there are 435 representatives.

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

 

          The president is elected to a four-year term and can be elected only twice. He or she can  (pass into law) or  (reject) bills passed by Congress. It            is also the president’s job to nominate Supreme Court justices and federal judges.

 

What is this paragraph about? Yes, the President’s role in government. What are the main points about the President’s job? Correct, sign or veto bills and appoint Supreme Court justices. Another point is that the president serves a four-year term. How can we combine these points into one topic sentence? The President…? (call on students). Answer: The President serves a four-year term and is in charge of signing or vetoing bills as well as appointed Supreme Court Justices.

    6. Have students get out a piece of paper and a pencil. Say: “Now I would like you to read the entire article and use our about-point strategy to                 write a topic sentence for each paragraph. When you are done you will have a great summary of the article in the form of a complete                               paragraph. This will help you remember important facts about the three branches of government. Be sure to leave out examples because these           are just here to help you understand the information. Examples are not main points. We will have a quiz after everyone finishes, so make sure             that you remember the facts.”

 

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

__ Collected important information

__ Ignored examples in the summary

__ Significantly reduced the text from the original

__ Sentences brought ideas together from each paragraph

__Sentences organized coherently into essay form

 

Quiz:

1. Who created the three branches of government?

2. What are the two parts of the Legislative branch?

3. How many representatives does each state get?

4. Who makes up the Executive branch?

5. Who takes over if the President dies or leaves office?

6. What is an example of a federal department that the cabinet oversees?

7. The Supreme Court has the power to overturn something if it does not agree with what document?

8. How many Supreme Court justices are there?

9. How long are Supreme Court justices’ terms?

 

Reference:

Rebecca Zissou, The Three Branches of Government https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/election/civics-in-action/three-branches-of-government.html

Regan Weakley, “The Wonders of Summarization” https://reganweakley.wixsite.com/literacylessons/reading-to-learn

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