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Running to Summarization with Cheetahs

Reading to Learn

Kelsey Bryant 

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Rationale: The primary goal of reading is to comprehend what is being read.  Students get to this level and are ready to learn strategies that can help them better understand the reading text. One strategy that this lesson will focus on to reach the goal of comprehension and summarization is about-point which asks two crucial questions:  1) What is the text about? This is an easy question that identifies the topic of the paragraph and will become the subject of the topic sentence and 2) What is the main point the writer is making about that topic. This will be a harder question.  The author will usually make multiple points so the reader will have to find an umbrella term that covers all of the main points the author makes. The main point then becomes the predicate of the topic sentence. 

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Materials:

  • Article "Animal Fact Guide: Cheetah" copy for each student (linked below)

  • Pencil & paper

  • Summarization checklist (below)

  • Comprehension quiz (below)

 

Procedures:

1.    Say: “Has anyone ever told a story to a friend? (Allow students to raise hands).  Did you share every detail about what happened, or did you only focus on the most important parts of the story? Exactly! When we tell someone about something that we have read, we only need to tell them the important parts of the story they will need to know. This is what we call summarizing. Summarizing helps us communicate and share with others every day. We can also use summarizing to better understand what we read and show that you understand the story.” Good readers use summarization strategies to remember the important points that the author is making about the topic.  That way they don’t have to try and remember every little word but can create a shortened overview that is easy to remember.   

 

2.    Say: “One of the best strategies to summarize a text is called about-point.  In about-point, you ask yourself two questions.  One will be easy and one will be hard and you will use those questions to make your topic sentence.  The easy question is “what is the text about” and the tough question is “what is the main point the writer is making about that topic.” To answer this question you have to think of an umbrella term for all of the important points the author makes. 

  

3.    Say: “In a few minutes, I am going to show you how I would do an about-point with a paragraph. Today we are continuing our discussion on savanna animals but we are focusing on cheetahs so our article is all about cheetahs. Have any of you ever seen a cheetah?  (Let students raise their hand and answer).  Have you ever wondered how fast a cheetah can run?  In the article, we are given a lot of information about cheetahs! Do any of you know just how fast a cheetah is? How do you think cheetahs hunt and eat? These are some of the questions that will be answered as we read today. 

 

4. Say: “Before we get started I want to go over an important vocabulary word that you will be reading: mammal. A mammal is a warm-blooded animal that breathes air, has a backbone, and grows hair at some point during its life. Cheetahs are an example of a mammal.  What other types of animals are mammals? Finish this sentence: An example of a mammal is ….” (Wait for student responses).

 

5.  Now I am going to show you how to use about-point in a paragraph from our article. 

 

“Accelerating from 0 to 96 km/h (60 mph) in three seconds, the cheetah is the world’s fastest land mammal.  They inhabit the grasslands of eastern, central, and southwestern Africa, as well as a small portion of Iran. Cheetahs have several special adaptations that allow them to reach top speeds.  Wide nostrils and large lungs combined with a powerful heart and strong arteries provide more oxygen to their muscles.  Their huge leg muscles mainly consist of fast-twitch fibers, which contract faster than normal muscles.  Their small body frame is lightweight and aerodynamic.  With long legs, loose hip and shoulder joints, and a flexible spine, cheetahs can cover 7 m (20-25 ft) in one stride.” 

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This paragraph is about how cheetahs run very fast and it has a lot of important information but what are the most important points that the author is making?  The cheetah is the fastest mammal in the world.  The cheetah also has a small body frame that is lightweight and helps him run faster.  Now I will put these two points together so I can make a topic sentence: The cheetah’s small lightweight body frame allows it to run fast which makes it the world’s fastest land mammal. 

 

6.  Now it is your turn to use about-point on a paragraph.   

 

“Running this quickly takes a lot of energy, and cheetahs can only maintain the sprint for about half a minute before burning out.  With this limiting factor, they try to get as close as possible to their prey, which include antelope, wildebeest calves, and hares, before starting the chase.  Camouflaged against the tall grasses, they quietly sneak up until they are confident of the attack.  They burst out, using their tail as a rudder to keep balance while making sharp turns.  Their claws, which do not fully retract, grip the ground like cleats.  Once they reach their target, they use their front paw to trip the prey.  Then they strangle the animal with a bite and drag it to a hiding spot before another predator, such as a lion, leopard, or hyena, steals it.”

 

What is this paragraph about?  That’s right, it’s about how cheetahs catch their prey.  What are some of the main points that the author makes about how the cheetah catches their prey?  Correct, they get really close, use camouflage, their claws, and stealth to catch their prey.  Now that we have our main points, how can we combine those ideas into our one topic sentence beginning:  Cheetahs…? Cheetahs use camouflage, their claws, and stealth to catch their prey.

 

7.  Now I would like you to finish reading the article and use about-point to make a topic sentence for each paragraph.  When you are finished, you should have a summary of the article which will help you remember all the important points made about cheetahs.  Remember, don’t summarize examples or trivia.  They are only written to help you understand the main points. You will write a short version of the article in your own words with those topic sentences.  Make sure you remember that after everyone finishes, we will have a quiz about the article. 

 

 

Assessment: Take up each summary and check with the following checklist.

 

Did this student…. 

_____ Find and focus on important information 

_____ Ignored trivia and examples in summary 

_____ Significantly reduced the text from the original 

_____ Sentences brought ideas together from each paragraph 

_____ Sentences organized coherently into an essay form 

 

Reading Comprehension Quiz: 

  1. What are some adaptations that help cheetahs run faster?

  2. How do cheetahs sneak up on and catch their prey?

  3. How is a cheetah different from other big cats like lions and tigers?

  4. What happens to cheetah cubs when their mom leaves them?

  5. What are some threats to baby cheetah cubs?

 

References:

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Roaring Into Summarization by Anna Bolton

https://abolt833.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/reading-to-learn

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Using About-Point to Awaken the Main Idea by Bruce Murray

https://murraba.wixsite.com/readinglessons/reading-to-learn

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Animal Fact Guide: Cheetah

https://animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/cheetah/

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