Summarizing

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Home : 2004 : November : 17

Summarizing
By jenn

I teach summarizing two ways. I read aloud from a high interest picture book for both lessons, which allows for easy/self modification.

1. "GIST". I stop at preselected points in the book and students try to write
(or tell) the "GIST", or biggest thing that happened in 10 words or less (we even sing a song to the Adam's Family theme...Getting the Gist...in 10). At first I am more flexible on the word limit, but I give them the 10 word limit to shoot for. As we stop, we share, so if they are stuck, they can hear how others did it. At the end, they have a summary of the story. At first, I have

more stopping points to make it easier to pick the main idea out, but as time goes on, I pick fewer stop points.

2. "Somebody Wanted But So Then", which works for most fiction or narrative passages. Here are some kids examples, using the book "Dog Breath" (at first, we do these all together):

Somebody: The Tosis Family
Wanted: to find a way to keep their dog, Hally
But: Her breath was horrible
So: They tried lots of things, but nothing worked
Then: Hally trapped the robbers and became a hero and they kept her.

Somebody: The Tosis kids
Wanted: to help Hally get rid of her dog breath
But: none of their ideas worked
So: their parents said they had to get rid of her
Then: She saved the day, so they got to keep her.

When kids remove the word "Somebody" They get a summary of the book or passage.

The Tosis kids wanted to help Hally get rid of her dog breath, but none of their ideas worked. So, their parents said they had to get rid of her. Then she saved the day so they got to keep her.