Ms. Smith's Reading Lessons 

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.”

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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.”

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3. Say: “We are going to practice the about-point strategy with an article about oxygen which is what we breathe! Does anyone want to share something cool they know about oxygen? [Have students answer and explain.] I know that oxygen is an element, we need it to survive and so do lots of other animals. It is a very important element! In the text we read, we are going to learn more about oxygen and what it is!” [Pass out the article to each student.]

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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 the atmosphere. The atmosphere is the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet. Let’s use it in a sentence: “part of the sun’s energy is absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere.” Has anyone heard this word before and want to share it?

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5. Say: Let’s read this paragraph from “Oxygen Facts”.

“You may not know it, but oxygen is all around you, all the time. In fact, oxygen is one reason you’re able to survive on this planet called Earth. Still not really sure what oxygen is? Keep reading to find out everything you need to know! Oxygen is a chemical element. Out of the 118 elements in the universe, oxygen is the 3rd most common. There is more oxygen inside your body than any other element, and at least 21% of Earth’s atmosphere is made of oxygen. So why have you never seen it? This element is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. That means even though oxygen is constantly around you, you can’t see it, smell it, or taste it. Every time you take a breath, you are breathing in oxygen, and you need oxygen to live. You’re not alone—all living things need oxygen for survival, even animals that live underwater.”

 

6. Say: “We can see that this paragraph is all about what oxygen is, where it’s found, and its purpose. What are some of the points the author made? Oxygen is the reason you are able to survive on this planet. It is the 3rd most common chemical element. At least 21% of Earth’s atmosphere is made up of oxygen. Remember now, that might be an unfamiliar word. Can anyone tell me what it means? Oxygen is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. All living things need oxygen to survive. After reading and recognizing the main ideas, I can combine them to make a topic sentence: Oxygen is a very common chemical element in the atmosphere that we cannot see, taste or smell but that we all need to survive.”

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7. Say: Now it is your turn to try the about-point method on the next paragraph from our reading. [ students read the next paragraph to themselves] 

“Oxygen is really, really old. It’s been on Earth for at least 2.3-2.4 billion years! But even though oxygen has been around for a long, long time, it took until 1608 for people to notice. We already learned that all living things on Earth use oxygen to breathe, but oxygen has many other uses too. It is used to make steel and plastic, and liquid oxygen is one of the main ingredients in rocket fuel! It is also used in cars and airplanes. Fire also requires oxygen to burn. Oxygen tanks help people with breathing problems to live and breathe. They also help astronauts walk in space and scuba divers swim to the bottom of the ocean. Oxygen is literally everywhere—it’s not only in the atmosphere and the air around you, but it’s also in rocks and dirt, in the ocean, and even in the sun. 50% of the Earth’s crust is filled with oxygen, and the oxygen in the sun helps it burn. Although the gas form of oxygen is clear and colorless, it becomes light blue as a liquid. Liquid oxygen is also very, very cold.

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8. Say: What is this paragraph telling us? It is explaining the other uses of oxygen other than just for breathing and survival. What point is the author making? Oxygen has many different important uses that were not noticed upon its original discovery. How can we combine both of these points? [Have students respond.]

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9. Say: “Now I want you to finish reading the article and use the about-point method to make your own topic sentences for each section. When you finish, you should have summarized the whole article on your own! This will help you remember the important facts about oxygen. The point of summarizing is to condense or shorten all the main points into simple sentences so remember to just pick out the meaningful information. After everyone has finished, we will take a short quiz to see what you remember about oxygen.”

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10. Assessment- Part 1:Collect each student’s summary of the article and evaluate their summarization abilities with the “Summarization Assessment Checklist”

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       Assessment Part 2: Pass out a copy of the comprehension quiz on the article to the students: 

       Quiz Questions :

1. What percentage of the earth’s atmosphere is oxygen? 

2. Oxygen is the _____ most common chemical element.

3. About how many billion years has oxygen been on earth? 

4. What can oxygen be used to make?

5. What requires oxygen in order to burn?

6. What two jobs or hobbies use oxygen to help them breathe in a different place?