Summarizing Minilesson

Name: Josie Lutton

Grade Level: 3rd
Content: Summarizing
Lesson: Summarizing The Giving Tree to help comprehension

Content Objective(s):
After reading the book, students will be able to create summary using information they
have gathered from the text.

GLE: R1H3i
Apply post-readings skills to demonstrate comprehension of the text: summarize.

Modifications: Students will get to communicate with a partner.

Materials/Media/Resources:
Silverstein, S. (1964). The giving tree. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Anticipatory Set: Has anyone ever given a gift to someone? What did you give
them? Why did you give them that? Today we are going to read a story called
The Giving Tree.

Instructional Input: Today we are going to be talking about summarizing. A

summary is a brief recap of piece of text you have read. We will use the words
and the pictures to help us come up with a clear summary of what we have read.
Summarizing is important because it helps you remember and understand what
you have read.

Modeling/Demonstrating: Begin reading the story to the class, pointing out the
characters (the tree and the boy) as I read. From reading this much of the text, I
have been able to identify a couple of main characters I am going to write them
on the board so that I can remember to include them in my summary. Write the
two main characters on the board. Continue reading the book. Pause after the
boy tells the tree he would like to make a boat. After reading this far, quite a few
things have happened in the text. I am asking myself why the tree keeps giving
the boy all these things. Can someone tell me some of the things the tree has
given to the boy? Continue reading to the end of the book. If I were going to
create a summary of this text, there is a very simple sentence I can use to plug in
the important information from the text I just read. Write Somebody wanted but
so on the board.

Guided Practice:
Point to the sentence on the board. From the text we have just do you think you
can come up with information from the text to complete this sentence? Turn to
your shoulder partner and discuss things like the main character, the problem in
the text, and how it was resolved in the end. Walk around while they are
discussing and listen to the information students are sharing. Choose a student
to share their thoughts with the class. Will you share some of your ideas about
the text with the class? “We decided that the main characters were the tree and
the boy and that the tree gives a lot in the story, but she runs out of things to give
eventually.” That is a very good. I like the way you used details from the text.
Choose another student to share. Does anyone else have anything that they
could add to that? The boy asks too much of the tree but we liked at the end
how the boy came back in the end and didn’t want anything from the tree. That
is a very true. Now, I want you to go back to your seats and use what we have
discussed to write out a summary of the book in your reading journals. Make sure
you write clearly and use details from the text.

Checking for Understanding:

I will listen and watch closely as students brainstorm and talk about things they
could include in their summaries with their shoulder partners and again as we are
wrapping things up. They should be able to form an idea for a summary that
makes sense and uses information included in the text.

Independent Practice:
Students will go back to their desks and get out their reading journals. You
should be using the sentence I wrote on the board: Somebody wanted but so.
Circulate around the room as they work. When everyone is close to be done
allow them to share what they wrote with their shoulder partner. Ok, now help
your shoulder partner out- discuss what you wrote and why. Do your summaries
use details from the text? Do they make sense?

Closure:
Today we learned how to create a summary of a story, based on what we have
read and the illustrations. Then, we compared our summaries with the text to
make sure they made sense. Creating summaries is a very important reading
skill that helps us use the text we have already read to create a shorter recap of
the text. Creating summaries causes us, as readers, to understand the text we
are reading better and to remember the important pieces of information.

Evaluation/Assessment:

Student’s summaries of the text will be graded using a rubric to see if their
summaries were clear and related to details from the text.

Students will use details from the text including character and plot to create a summary of
the text they just read. (see rubric on next page)

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rubricgradepostf_ 0 0 rubricgradeeditf.c rubricshow c.cfm

NO NO no

465775 465776 465777

Summarizing
2857239 2857240
2857238
Proficient Advanced
Basic
2 3
1

Profi Advan
Basic
cient ced
1 pts
2 pts 3 pts
Clarifying Basic Proficient Advanced
Able to make a clear Is not able to give a Is able to give a Is able to give a clear
summary of what clear summary of what summary of what and well-written
happened in the story. happened in the text. happened in the text. summary of what
2857241 2857242 2857243 happened in the text.
Is not able to give Is able to give a p Is able to give a c

Summary Basic Proficient Advanced

Can make a Student did not make a Summary is Summary is
summary based on summary or summary acceptable, but there acceptable and based
details from the text. was not based on are not details from on details from the
2857244 details from the the passage to passage. Summary is
Student did not m passage. The support the based on characters
prediction is off topic. summary. and the plot of the
2857245 2857246 text.
Prediction is acce Prediction is acce
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