Summarizing

1. Summarizing Click to continue for each slide…

2. Purpose of Summarizing Students will be able to: • Identify the main idea of a text • Examine text features • Determine supporting details • Delete less important information • Locate and analyze redundancies .

3. Summarizing Strategies • Activities are detailed with descriptions and instructions • Sample scripts are provided to begin lessons and for transitions • Strategies must be modeled for students before they attempt to complete on their own • Students should practice using the strategies with a partner before using them independently. Teachers should monitor and assist as needed.

4. The Essential 7 • This strategy works best with nonfiction pieces and may be completed with paragraphs, news articles, or sections of text. • As students read, they are to underline or highlight the 7 most important words or phrases in the text. Students must understand that a phrase is not a sentence. • After students have individually determined the Essential 7, they should share their list with a partner and together, come to a consensus about the most important words or phrases. • Have students share lists and as a class, come up with one master list. • Create a summary using the 7 words/phrases by writing a sentence or sentences using the class list. This could also be done independently or with a partner.

5. Essential 7 Script • “Today we are going to learn a strategy called the Essential 7 that will help you summarize any type of text you are reading; and, it is really easy! You just have to practice.” • “First, we are all going to read _____________________ individually.” *Always start with shorter pieces for modeling and practice. • “When you are finished reading, go back and highlight 7 words or phrases that you believe are most important in the text. A phrase is generally not more than three or four words and is NOT a sentence.” • “Once you have determined your Essential 7 from the text, you need to create a short summary using those words. Your summary will be about 1 to 3 sentences. After you have written your summary, read it and decide if you feel it accurately determines the main idea and supporting details.” • “Raise your hand when you are finished and I would love to come read yours!” Insert Text Here

6. 5 Ws and the H • This works best with fiction, as most stories always contain these elements. However, this strategy can be used with nonfiction, especially history texts. • After reading a piece of text, have students identify: • Who the main character(s) or people are • What is the conflict in the story • When is the story taking place • Where does the story take place • Why are the characters involved in the story / Why did the author write this text (purpose) • How has the conflict been resolved? • Lists and graphic organizers should be used for students to properly organize the information. After determining the information, teachers should have students write a summary using only the above information. • 5 Ws and the H can be a great journaling topic once they understand the strategy.

7. 5 Ws and the H Script • “Today we are going to create a summary using the strategy, 5 Ws and the H.” • Some students will catch on quickly to the strategy, so the teacher may want to individually explain to students as needed. “You all have just finished reading the selected text. Now, determine the who, what, when, where, why, and how and write this information in a list or graphic organizer” • “After you have identified each of the 5 Ws and H, you will combine all the information to create a 2 to 3 sentence summary includes each component.” • *Links to various graphic organizers can be found in the curriculum.

8. Other Ways 5 Ws and the H can be Used The following can be found in the curriculum: • Story Element Sort • Character Perspective chart • 5 W rap • Goal Structure Mapping • Shrinking Notes

9. Somebody/Wanted/But/So/Then • After reading a piece of text, have students identify: • Somebody- Who is the Character/Significant Person • Wanted- What did the character/person want to obtain or achieve • But- The conflict • So- The character’s actions to resolve the conflict • Then- The character’s resolution and ending to the story. • Students will then be able to write a summary using the above information.

10. Exit Slips • Teachers can determine a way for students to quickly summarize the day’s reading as an exit slip. One fun way is to limit the word count to 140 and post them in the room as Tweets.

11. Formula • Main Idea+3 Supporting Details = Summary • Students can create graphic organizers that identifies the main ideas and supporting details. The teacher can use a graphic organizer of choice; for example, the table top. • The graphic organizer can then be utilized to write a short summary. Different color highlighters are extremely useful for these exercises.

12. Marking the Text • As students read a text, they will evaluate the content of each paragraph. They can either cross out sentences that are unimportant OR highlight/underline a sentence that is important. • After, students will write a summary based upon the sentences they feel are important. They should at least select one sentence per paragraph of the text.

13. GIST • Have students draw 20 lines on a sheet of paper. • Students are to create a 20 word summary of a text, picture, song, movie, etc. • The summary must include exactly 20 words and be in complete sentences. It is acceptable and sometimes even preferred for students to write just one sentence using their 20 words, but it is not mandatory.