Subject: Focus Lesson: Paraphrasing

Date: 11/17/2015

Emily Britt
Length: 30
minutes

Standard
5.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts, narrative
nonfiction, and poetry.
h) Summarize supporting details from text.
Essential Skills
To be successful with this standard, students are expected to
summarize supporting details from text
Rationale:
Paraphrasing and summarizing is an important skill to practice and use in order to avoid
plagiarism and to better remember information.
Objective:
This week I will use strategies to paraphrase a passage or article
So that I can summarize the important ideas in my own words.
I will know I have it when I complete a Paraphrasing Sheet with 80% accuracy.
SOL Verbs
describe

Cognitive
Level
knowledge

Demonstrated when students

complete the paraphrasing sheet with 80% accuracy.

Materials and Resources:

Paraphrasing Sheet Diamond, Circle, and Square level
Introduction & Unit Connection
Introduce the students to word paraphrasing. Ask if any students are familiar with this word.
Tell students that when you paraphrase, you restate the ideas in your own words, without
changing the authors meaning.
Whole Group:
Project the Transparency on Paraphrasing. Read the passage aloud. Explain that the first
example shows the ides combined into one sentence. Example 2 presents the details of the
passage in a different order. Example 3 uses synonyms.
Project the following paragraph and read it aloud. Remind students of the types of
paraphrasing.
Achoo! We all sneeze sometimes. Sneezing is a reflex that your body does automatically. That
means you cannot make yourself sneeze or stop one once it has started. When you sneeze,
your body is trying to get rid of bad things in your nose, such as bacteria. You have extra
germs when you have a cold, so you sneeze a lot more. You might also sneeze when you smell
pepper!
Have the students work with their neighbor to paraphrase the information. Have a few pairs
share their summaries.
Closure:
Tell students that they will now get to practice the skill on their own. Give students the sheet
on paraphrasing according to their reading level. They should complete it and turn it into the

ELA basket.
Differentiation:
Give different paragraphs for individual work that are on the students grade levels.
Assessment:
Paraphrasing sheet- Formative