Jeff Rost Intermediate Lit.

Methods Comprehension Strategy LessonSummarizing Revised Book Title: Weslandia (1999) Author: Paul Fleischman Illustrator: Kevin Hawkes Citation: Fleischman, Paul. Weslandia. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 1999. Print Grade Level: 4th Materials: Weslandia Graphic Organizer Post-It Notes Chart Paper/White Board Common Core: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. Continuum GoalGrade 4: Thinking Within the Text: Summarize orally or in writing a text, including appropriate information. Introduction of the Strategy: Good readers are able to read a text and retell the main details of the story. Think back to your summer vacations. When we talked about what you did over the summer, if everyone included every detail, we would not have enough time for every student to share. The same is true when you read a book. It is important to summarize the main points of a book when talking about it, so you make sure that you have included enough details to be important, but leave the listener wanting to read it. A summary is when we retell only the important information from a book or a story, which includes the characters, the setting, the problem, the main events, and how the problem was solved (a model of the graphic organizer they will be using will be on the white board). Remember, we are looking for the most important parts of the story. Explicit Teaching: 1. I am going to look for the main characters, the setting, the problem, and the main events. I am going to read Weslandia two times. The first time I will read it and point important summary pieces out, and the second time we will work together to fill in our summarization sheet 2. As we take our picture walk through the book, I can already tell that the main character is Wesley, and his mother and father also seem important in the story. I

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am going to write that on my graphic organizer on the board (the students will not have their graphic organizers until later so that they can focus on the process). I will continue to read the story to the class. As we read, I will engage students in discussions about the possible problems in the story, and the main details. For instance, on page 3 I will say, Remember, were looking for what Wesleys problem is. Maybe it is that he is bullied. On page 6, I will stop and say, Or maybe Wesleys problem is trying to create a summer project that is better than his classmates projects. I will write both of these examples of the board for the students to consider. I am going to finish reading the story this first time, and I want you to pay attention for main details we can add to our summarization sheet, as well as how Wesleys problem is resolved. A main detail is something important that happens in the story that we would want others to know about. I will continue to read the story to the students. I think a main detail might be that Wesley feels alone and wants to create an environment just for himself. I am going to keep reading to see if that is indeed a main detail. I dont think I need to include the name of the plants Wesley is growing, but I think it might be important to note that Wesleys friends and neighbors grow envious of his plant habitat and they want to be a part of it. This sounds like he is growing as a character, which sounds important to the story to me. At the end of the story I will say, Wow. A lot happened to Wesley in our story. Remember, we have to include the main details in our summarizations and not include absolutely everything from the story. For example (turning to page 2), I would not include that Wesley does not like soda or pizza, and I would not include that he did not like football. The author wanted us to know those things about Wesley, but they are not the most important details of the story.

Guided Practice: Now that we have read through the story once and we know what has happened, lets go back and reread it so that we ensure we have the problem accurate and the main details correct. We are going to summarize at the end of our story so that we make sure we have included everything. Sometimes, you may be asked to summarize at the end of a page or a chapter too, but we are going to look at the whole story today. I will then reread the first third of the book. We are going to stop here for a moment. By now, we know what Wesleys problem is, and at least one main detail from the story. I want you to take two Post-It notes, and write down what you think Wesleys problem is on one note, and one main event on the other note. Then turn to your partner and share. We will come back as a class and I will write down the problem and main events shared. As a class, we will come to a consensus on the problem (Wesley wanted to create a summer project and not worry about bullies). We will also agree upon one to two main details and will write them on the white board (dependent on the variety of main events offered by the students during discussion). Collaborative Practice: I will give students the summarization graphic organizer (attached at the end of this lesson). Now I want you to work in pairs to come up with two more of the main details

from the story (this leaves them one final main detail, as well as the way the main conflict was resolved for independent practice). Remember, we are looking for the main details of the story that are important for us to remember. I will pair students together ahead of time based on student readiness, ensuring collaborative partnerships. You can fill in the parts we have already completed as a class (the characters, the problem, and one to two main details). You will complete two remaining main details. I will monitor group progress, and will provide student assistance when needed. I will prompt students with open ended questions, and will engage them in discussions with the text if they are struggling or ask for assistance.

Discussion/Closure: I will call the class back together for a final large group discussion. We learned the importance of summarization today. We learned that when we read a story or a book, we cannot include every detail in our summaries, so we have to pick out the important parts, like the characters, the setting, the problem, some main details, and how the problem was resolved. As a class, we will share what main details small groups came up with together, and we will have a discussion on the groups different details (if groups do not agree on remaining main details). We will add them to our large graphic organizer on the board. Independent Practice: Now, the last thing we are going to do today is independently finish our graphic organizer on Weslandia. You are going to work on completing the final main detail, as well as how the main conflict in the story was resolved. When we summarize, it is important to identify the main details, the conflict, characters, and setting, but it is also important to pay attention to how the conflict is resolved. I want you to pay attention to the things Wesley does in order to creatively solve his problem. Once you have that done, you may turn it into me and I will review it with you. Also pay attention to how you can summarize your daily reading books. You can summarize a story, a whole book, or even just a page. Good readers pay attention to all details, and summarize the text within a few sentences to understand the most important parts. When the students turn their graphic organizers into me, I will review it with them. Dependent on these short conferences with the student, I will engage them in further summarizing activities, which can include giving them a similar graphic organizer (or sticky note system or something comparable) to have them further independently practice the skill in their daily reading. Assessment: Through class discussion, partner work, graphic organizer completion and written summary, students will be assessed to ensure they are including the essential components of a summary, including the characters, setting, problem, main details, and problem resolution while not including minor details. I will use this data to determine if more large group, small group, or individual instruction will be needed for summarization mastery.