Summing It All Up

Grade Level: 3-5
Classroom Time: One 45 minute period

Skills Addressed

ELA skill: identifying the best summary
ELA skill: using strategies for selecting main idea

Process: Day One

Teacher introduces the skill of summarization through the story, Calling of the Doves by Juan Felipe Herrera. This book is online and can be accessed at http://www.childrenslibrary.org/ (You will have to register with the library before teaching this lesson. Please follow directions in bold print below.)

Once logged in to the above site, locate “quick links” on the left hand side and click on “register/sign in.” Click “adults” circle and proceed to fill out the registration information. When finished, click “register” button at the bottom of the page. This will complete your registration.
Access http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/Login enter your login information and click the OK button. This should bring you to the “Simple Search” page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and locate the “Keywords” section. Type in Calling of the Dovesin this section and make sure the language is English. Click on the search button. This should bring you to a page where there are eight book titles. Click on the first book to your left to review the summary, and then click again to begin the online reading of the book. (The summary is for your information. This can be read during the teacher preparation time.) Take time to familiarize yourself with the buttons at the top of the screen that help to adjust the size of the book and print, the choice of showing one page or two pages. The plus button enlarges the print. The minus button shrinks the print. The right and left buttons turn the page. Recommend – practicing prior to using in classroom. This will ensure a smooth lesson presentation.
The book is 32 pages long, but you will read from pp. 2-14 for the lesson. Teacher models a summary for pg. 4, using a graphic organizer. http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/ There is a variety of organizers that can be used from this website. For example click on “Story Map 2”, Spider Map or any of the story map organizer. These organizers can be printed, by clicking on the print icon. Remind students that when we summarize we pick out the facts that are important and that make up the main idea of the passage.

Suggested Summary:
(Whenever the family traveled, the mother would tell the daughter that she, too, was born on the road like her Dad. Her mother and father’s names were Felipe and Lucha. The daughter saw many farm workers
dressed in bright colors as she and her mom and dad drove through the back roads of California.)
Access http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/reading/index.htm. Click the reading comprehension link under Story 4 “Nasreddin and the Smell of Soup” Read the story aloud as the students listen. As the questions are answered, encourage students to ask you to scroll up/down to find the evidence for their answers in the reading. Once questions are answered, use the back browser button and click on Story 4:“Recreating the story.” Follow the directions as students recreate the story.
Art Connection: Refer back to the story read earlier, Calling of the Doves, and recall how the illustrations supported the main idea of the text for that page. Possibly use pages 12-13 where Juan recalls taking a bath in the washtub in the yard as an example. Using the story “Nasreddin and the Smell of Soup” let students think aloud about how to illustrate this story. List student ideas. Connect how illustrations are used to support the main idea and how summarization visually occurs in an illustration.
Access http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/reading/index.htm. Click on Story 4: Summarizing the Story: Gap - filled exercise. Students might need a copy of hard copy of the story in order for them to complete the exercise with their partners (A copy is attached to this lesson.) This section will give the students hints if the answer is incorrect. Have a team call out their answers as you type them in.

National ELA Standards

Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world.
Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts.
Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

Painter National Visual Arts Standards

Art Extension: Painter

Let students illustrate their ideas concerning Nasreddin and the Smell of Soup from the Art connection area. Assign groups of students to each paragraph or section with each group completing one page that illustrates the story without words. Compile the pages together to make a class book.

Nasreddin and the Smell of Soup

One day, a poor man, who had only one piece of bread to eat, was walking past a restaurant. There was a large pot of soup on the table. The poor man held his bread over the soup, so the steam from the soup went into the bread, and gave it a good smell. Then he ate the bread.

The restaurant owner was very angry at this, and he asked the man for money, in exchange for the steam from the soup. The poor man had no money, so the restaurant owner took him to Nasreddin, who was a judge at that time. Nasreddin thought about the case for a little while.

Then he took some money from his pocket. He held the coins next to the restaurant owner's ear, and shook them, so that they made a jingling noise.

"What was that?" asked the restaurant owner.

"That was payment for you," answered Nasreddin.

"What do you mean? That was just the sound of coins!" protested the restaurant owner.

"The sound of the coins is payment for the smell of the soup," answered Nasreddin. "Now go back to your restaurant."

The mission of Project GRAD is to ensure a quality public education for all students in economically disadvantaged communities so that high school and college graduation rates increase.