As a group, students will be able to:
1. read for specific information within a paragraph
2. take notes by orally stating the key words in the paragraph
3. rewrite information in their own words
1. Explain to students that they will be “going” on a treasure hunt and learning how to find information within a paragraph to answer a question. (ie. for a research project or animal report, etc.) Ask the students to pretend they are pirates who are looking for gold. * The procedure below is shown in the PowerPoint presentation.*
2. Select one question from a particular research project and write the question on the board. (ie. What types of food do bats eat?)
3. As a group, discuss and circle the keywords in the question. (ie. “food” and “eat”)
4. Display a large sheet of chart paper on which you have previously written a paragraph about a subject and which has information that will answer the question. Have the students read the paragraph aloud.
5. Cut the sentences of the paragraph into strips. Make two columns on the board labeling one “GOLD” and the other “ROCKS”. Have a student read aloud the first sentence. Ask the students if the sentence answers the question. If it does, have a student place the sentence strip on the board in the column labeled “GOLD”. If the sentence does not answer the question, have a student place the sentence strip on the board in the column labeled “ROCKS”. Repeat this process with all of the sentences. Explain that the sentences under the “ROCKS” heading are important but are not helpful to answer our question.
6. Reread the sentences in the “GOLD” column, one at a time. and discuss which words in the sentence are the “key” words. Highlight or circle the key words.
7. Ask a student(s) to write the key words on the board. Explain that they are “taking notes” which they will use to answer the question.
8. Ask the students to count the number of keywords and compare this number of words to the number of words in the original paragraph (fewer). Explain that it is less work to write only a few words rather more words.
9. As a group, develop an answer to the question using the “key” words AND the students’ OWN words. write the answer to the question on the board.
10. Close the lesson by reviewing what they have learned: finding key words to answer questions; taking notes; and answering the question using the key words and their own words.