Adapted Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan Format

Standards/Quality Indicators/Skills
Missouri and national standards, quality indicators, and skills addressed by this lesson
Missouri Learning Standard:
3: Develop and apply skills and strategies to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate nonfiction (e.g.,
narrative, information/explanatory, opinion, persuasive, argumentative) from a variety of cultures
and times.
A: Text Features
a: use multiple text features to locate information and gain an overview of the contents of text

and

Missouri Learning Standard:

3: Develop and apply skills and strategies to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate nonfiction (e.g.,
narrative, information/explanatory, opinion, persuasive, argumentative) from a variety of cultures
and times.
C: Text Structures
d: compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic

Learning Objectives/Goals and Duration

The lessons objectives and learning outcomes appropriate for meeting curricular and student
C:needs; What will the students be able to know/do by the end of the lesson? Include the duration
Text Structures
d:(number
compareofand contrastyou
minutes) a firsthand
estimateand secondhand
the lesson willaccount
take. of the same event or topic

Student will learn how to distinguish if a statement is a summary or synthesis.

Lesson should take around 1 hour or whole reading block at most.
o Day 1: Opening and guided practice
o Day 2: Collaborative practice and closure

Resources and Materials

List of materials used in the planning of and during the instruction of the lesson

1
 Grandfathers Journey by Allen Say (nonfiction picture book)
Invitation by Shel Silverstein (poem)
Whiteboard/expo markers
Statement print outs from text choices
Magnets
Tape
Highlighters
Large paper pad

2
 Technology
Instructional and/or assistive technology incorporated into the lesson to enhance instruction and
student learning
Students can use Noteability app on iPad to highlight information in the text they are reading

Instructional Input
What knowledge is required for you to impart to students in order for them to achieve the
objective or purpose?
Definitions of summary: Taking a text and reducing it to its bare essentials. This means you can
find the lesson/moral of the story and the key ideas of the story.
Definition of synthesis: Taking a text and analyzing what perspective of its topic you had coming
into the text. After reading the text analyzing how your understanding of the text evolved.
Differences and similarities between summary and synthesis: Student should know that summary
is how you retell and restate main ideas of the text. Synthesis is different because they monitor
their own thinking and how it evolves as they read. A synthesis reflects how their old perspective
stays the same or changes as a result of the new text they have read.

Checking for Understanding

How will you monitor students learning? If you are using questioning, provide examples of
questions you will use.
All students will be given a statement to sort under summary and synthesis on the white board
(formative assessment)
This will not be collected. Will be used to guide the teachers further instruction.
o Can you underline/highlight the part of the statement lets you know which one it is?
Students will choose another short article or short story of their choice. (summative assessment)
This student work will be collected and assessed.
o Can you demonstrate that you know how to write a summary of the text?
o Can you demonstrate that you know how to write a synthesis of the text?

3
4
 Guided and Independent Practice
If relevant, what activities will the students engage in under close teacher monitoring and
direction? What activities will the students engage in without teacher supervision?
Opening:
On the white board, create a T-chart labeled summary and synthesis
Have students come up and write their ideas of what each one is
Have a class discussion over the ideas
Synthesize their ideas into final definition for each on an anchor chart (large note pad)
Hang the anchor chart in literacy center/literacy bulletin board

Guided Practice:
Place the poem Invitation by Shel Silverstein on the Smartboard
Place two statements you have made about the poem (a summary and a synthesis)
Demonstrate how to highlight key aspects of the statement that reveal what type it is (use two
separate colors)
o Summary restates main ideas of the text
o Synthesis uses the main ideas of the text to shape or maintain the readers own personal
perspectives.
Have students follow along and highlight on paper copies as well.

Collaborative Practice:
Read aloud Grandfathers Journey
After read aloud, pass out printed out statements about the book
o Half and half mix between summaries and synthesis statements
o Each student will get one statement
On the whiteboard, have students hang their statement under which category they think it
belongs under (summary or synthesis)
Once all students have placed their statement, go through each statement (let the students know
that it doesnt matter if they placed something in the wrong category, we are all here to learn, and
they wont have to come up and explain their choice, they only have to come up to explain why
they agree or disagree with someone elses choice)
o Have students put thumbs up or down if they agree with where the statement is placed
o Have a student come up for each statement and underline the part of the statement
where they agree or disagree with

Closure
How will you bring the lesson to close? Are there key points of learning you need to review,
clarify, or check? Closure may not be synonymous to an ending point of learning.

5
 Now that students can distinguish between the two types of statements, have them write their
own summary and synthesis of the picture book
Conclusion: Discuss with students how summaries are useful for writing a research paper or
informational text. Discuss with students how synthesizing is useful for opinion writing and
persuasive writing.