Reading to Learn Design
SUMMARIZING WITH SANTA CLAUS
Rationale: What's the point in reading if you can't comprehend what the text? Comprehension allows the reader to understand and interpret what they are reading. One very useful comprehension strategy is summarizing. A good way to check your summarization is asking the “about- point” question. What is the text about and what is the main point of the text? While the “about” question is often easier to answer, both are very important.
Materials:
Pencil
Highlighter
Comprehension quiz for each student
Reading checklist for each student
Printed copy of “The True Story of Santa Claus” for each student
Procedure:
Say “Good morning class! Today is a very fun and very important day because we will be learning how to summarize so we can comprehend the text. Does anyone know what summarize means? [let students think]. Yes! Summarizing means to give a brief statement about the main points. And what does comprehend mean? [let students think]. Yes good job, it means to understand! It is important to comprehend so you know what is happening in the story and that will make it more fun to read.”
Say “Today I will be teaching you how to summarize using the about point method. The about point method is asking yourself what the text is about and what are the main points. [write on board]. I will put these on the board for you guys to look back at. In order to best answer these questions, it is best that you look for the “umbrella term”. The “umbrella term” takes the most important things that the author has said and combines them into one word. to find the important parts the author wrote, you must find and take away any trivial information. In order to help you stay focused on the important information I have given you all highlighters. You should highlight the information you think is important to remember.”
Say “With summarization in mind, remember the three big things to remember. [write this on board]. 1.mark out any information in the story that is not important. 2. highlight the important information and terms and 3. create a topic sentence based on the umbrella terms and the highlighted text. After you create your topic sentence, you need an additional 6-8 sentences to write your summary. This is a brief overview of all the important information that you pulled out of the article. For example if we read
“Butterflies are beautiful, flying insects with large scaly wings. I have a butterfly in my garden and I named her flutter. Like all insects, they have six jointed legs, 3 body parts, a pair of antennae, compound eyes, and an exoskeleton. Flutters eyes are a beautiful blue. The three body parts are the head, thorax (the chest), and abdomen (the tail end). The butterfly's body is covered by tiny sensory hairs. I love to feel the soft hair.”
I would cross out these parts [have paragraphs written on board before and cross off as I talk through it with students]. For a topic sentence I would say something like ‘Butterflies are insects that have 3 body parts and are covered in tiny hairs all over. Then I would continue my summary by talking about the parts of the body and what they do’. A key vocabulary word I could pick out is exoskeleton meaning external covering of an animal. I could use that in my body by saying the exoskeleton is one of the 3 body parts of the animal and it is the external covering which is very delicate. I could give you guys a fill in the blank such as ‘the __ of the skeleton is seen by everyone and very delicate.’ and you would say exoskeleton. I could also ask ‘which of the three body parts is the external covering of the butterfly?’ and you would answer skeleton. On the back of your worksheet you need to pick a word out of the passage and come up with a fill in the blank sentence as well as a question with the answer being your vocab word. Now you guys are going to try.”
Say “Since Christmas is right around the corner we are going to read a story about Santa Claus called “The True Story of Santa Claus”. Make sure to mark up your paper and create a topic sentence with the big 3 points in mind. After you finish everything you will come up and grab a reading checklist and comprehension quiz and quietly complete that. You can now start. Remember this is silent, independent reading.”
Reading Checklist:
Did i…
Create a topic sentence using my umbrella term and highlighted information? __
Cross out the unnecessary information? __
Highlight the important information? __
Write a 6-8 sentence summary? __
Comprehension check:
What was Santa Claus's name as a child before he was Santa Claus?
How did Santa Claus’ become well known when he was a child?
What did Santa Claus’ sisters get in their stockings?
What is another name for Santa Claus?
What traits make Santa Claus a good Santa Claus?
References:
Article: Contributors, HowStuffWorks.com. “Santa Claus Stories.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 25 Oct. 2006, https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-christmas/santa-claus-stories-ga.htm#pt1.
Callie Anton, Let's summarize with Butterflies! https://cma0077.wixsite.com/my-site/reading-to-learn
The True Story of Santa Claus:
Santa Claus was not always a jolly old fellow. He did not always have long white whiskers, and he did not always wear a big red suit. Long before he lived in the North Pole, and long before his yearly Christmas visits brought joy to all the children of the world, Santa Claus was a child himself. He was once just an ordinary baby boy named Nicholas. The baby boy was just like any other, but his parents hoped for great things from their only son. They named him Nicholas, which means "hero of the people." Even at a young age, Nicholas was a kind and generous boy. He often helped the people in his village. He shared his meals with those who had nothing to eat, he was always the first to lend a helping hand, and he brought joy to young and old alike. There was no better friend to have than young Nicholas. At a very young age, Nicholas joined the church. It was his duty to help people. Nicholas gave special attention to the children of his village, and they were very fond of Nicholas for his playful and joyful manner. Nicholas became well-known throughout the land as a kind and wise young man. He was soon named a bishop of the church. Because Nicholas was still so young, people called him the "Boy Bishop." Nicholas wore a long red robe with a red hat, and he traveled on horseback. At every village, happy children would spot his bright robe from a distance and gather in the road to greet him. In one village, Bishop Nicholas heard the sorrowful tale of a poor old man and his three young daughters. It seemed the man could no longer feed his daughters, and he feared he would have to send them away from him. Nicholas knew he could help this family. That night, while the whole village slept, Nicholas crept up to the hut where the three sisters lived. He climbed up to the rooftop to find the chimney. There Nicholas dropped three bags of gold, one by one, down through the chimney stack. Earlier that day, the three sisters had hung their newly washed stockings by the fireplace to dry. Each small bag of gold that Nicholas dropped fell into one of the stockings below. The next morning, the girls were overjoyed to find gold coins in their stockings. "Father!" they called, running to wake him. "We have received a magical gift!" As the story of these three sisters spread from village to village, other people began to hang their stockings by the fire, hoping to find a secret gift when they awoke the next morning. Though this was Bishop Nicholas' most famous gift, it was not his first good deed. And it would certainly not be his last. Bishop Nicholas enjoyed surprising people. He began to deliver his secret gifts of hope and joy only at night, while his friends were asleep. For all of his good deeds, Bishop Nicholas was named a saint. He is honored as the saint who looks after all children. Like other saints, St. Nicholas was given a name day. One day each year everyone celebrates the saint's good deeds. St. Nicholas' name day is December 6. People all over the world began to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. They hung their stockings by the fire the night before and awoke the next morning to find them filled with candy, fruit, nuts, or toys. St. Nicholas had left a magical gift at each home! Many years ago, people began to celebrate St. Nicholas' good deeds on Christmas Day, another holiday in December. St. Nicholas has many names around the world. In some places he is called "Sint Nikolass" or "Sinterklass." Many people know him today as Santa Claus. A true hero of the people, St. Nicholas still delivers his magical gifts each year at Christmastime. The gifts Santa Claus delivers, gifts of hope and joy, bring the joy of giving to all the children of the world. -- By Brian Conway.