Dana FranklinDana Franklin

Debbie WalesDebbie Wales

Colleen WitzkeColleen Witzke

Mary CollinsMary Collins

Sunshine State Standards-LA. A.1.2.4

Grades 3-5

Reading Standard 1:The student uses the reading process

effectively.

4. clarifies understanding by rereading, self-correction, summarizing, checking other sources, and class or group discussion.

Summarizing-Finds the main points of descriptive, explanation, instruction and persuasive text without details, illustrations, examples or personal opinions

Definition and Important Vocabulary

• To summarize a student uses their own words to combine, or synthesize the important parts of the text.

• A summary is short and tells only the most important ideas.

Summarizing using Get the Gist Strategy

To get the Gist of what I am reading:

• Who or what is the paragraph about? • Tell the most important thing about the

who or what.

• Tell the main idea in 10 words or less.

Just Read, Florida

You can find this strategy in the red book behind the comprehension tab

Summarizing Fiction

• Give only key points in a short one-four sentence summary

• Summarize in logical order

• Reread to remember main idea

• Refer to illustrations to summarize the text

Summarizing Nonfiction

• Give only key points in a short one or two sentence summary

• Leave out unnecessary details

• Summarize in logical order

• Reread to remember main ideas

• Refer to illustrations, headings and other text features to summarize the text

Tools for Teaching Summarizing

ToolsWhen to Use TEXT

Befo

re

Du

ring

After Narrative Expository

Bio-Pyramid X X

Lyric Summary X X X

Narrative Pyramid X XQuIP-Questions Into Paragraphs

X X X X

Story Map X X X

Summary Cube X X X X XKey Word Strategy

X X X

Bio-PyramidPurposes:• To summarize a person’s life• To provide a format for summary writing

Procedures:

1. After reading about a person’s life, show students the format for writing Bio-Pyramids.

• Line 1-person’s name• Line 2-two words describing the person• Line 3-three words indicating a problem the

person had to overcome• Line 4-four words indicating a problem the

person had to overcome

Bio-Pyramid

• Line 5-five words stating one of his or her accomplishments

• Line 6-six words stating a second accomplishment

• Line 7-seven words stating a third accomplishment

• Line 8- eight words stating how mankind benefited from the accomplishments

• Create Bio-Pyramid as a class• In small groups or pairs, have students

create Bio-Pyramids• Use the completed pyramids to promote

discussion

Bio-Pyramid1.________

Person’s name2.______ _______

Two words describing the person3._______ ______ _____

Three words describing the person’s childhood4._____ _____ ______ _____

Four words describing a problem the person had to overcome5_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Five words stating one of his or her accomplishments6._____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Six words stating a second accomplishment7._____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____Seven words stating a third accomplishment

8._____ _____ _____ _______ ________ _____ _____Eight words stating how mankind benefited from his or her accomplishments

Lyric SummaryPurposes: • To provide an alternative format for

narrative or expository text summaries • To provide opportunities to use multiple

modalities when creating summaries• To link content learning and the arts.Procedures: 1. Review summarizing with the students

depending on the type of text. Ask them to note the types of information that comprise narrative or expository summaries.

2. Introduce the musical aspect of the Lyric Summary by explaining that summaries can also be written as song lyrics to familiar tunes (popular, rock, jazz, disco, children’s songs).

3. Choose a melody with which students are familiar and use it as the background for writing a Lyric Summary. Write the first line and then encourage pairs of students to suggest subsequent lines. When the Lyric Summary is completed, sing it with the class.

4. Have small groups of students choose a melody they know and a topic they have recently studied to create their own Lyric Summaries. The topic may be a story they have recently read or information from a content area.

5. Have the students sing their completed Lyric Summaries for the class.

Lyric Summary

Lyric SummaryText: _____________________________________

Tune:_____________________________________

Verse 1: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Verse 2: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Refrain: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Narrative Pyramid

Purposes: • To summarize a narrative text • To provide a format for summary writing.

Procedures:

1. After reading a story, show students the format for writing narrative pyramids.

• Line 1 – character’s name• Line 2 – two words describing the character• Line 3 – three words describing the setting• Line 4 – four words stating the problem• Line 5 – five words describing one event

Narrative Pyramid

• Line 6 – six words describing another event• Line 7 – seven words describing a third event• Line 8 – eight words describing the solution to

the problem

2. Create a Narrative Pyramid as a class.3. Have students create Narrative Pyramids in

small groups or pairs for a story they have read.

4. Use the completed pyramids as the basis for discussion.

Narrative Pyramid

1.________Character’s name2.______ _______

Two words describing the character3._______ ______ _____

Three words describing the setting4._____ _____ ______ _____

Four words stating the problem5_____ _____ _____ _____ _____Five words describing one event

6._____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____Six words describing another event

7._____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____Seven words describing a third event

8._____ _____ _____ _______ ________ _____ _____Eight words describing a solution to the problem

QuIP (Questions into Paragraphs)

Purpose: • To provide a framework for initiating research and

structuring writing.

Procedures: 1. Students choose a topic to explore and write the

topic at the top of the QuIP grid.2. Generate three broad questions related to the topic.3. Locate and read two sources to find the answers to

their questions. Students write the titles of the sources in spaces provided on the grid.

4. Record answers to the questions in the spaces provided on the grid.

5. Synthesize information into a paragraph.6. Share paragraphs in pairs or small groups.

QuIP (Questions into Paragraphs)

Topic:

Questions Answers

Source: Source:

1.

2.

3.

Story Map

Purposes: • To promote understanding of the narrative elements • To encourage summarizing using narrative text

structureProcedures:1. Explain to the students the purpose of summarizing

and the narrative elements that are included (characters, setting, problem, attempts to resolve, solution) when summarizing a story.

2. Demonstrate completing a Story Map after reading a story aloud. Discuss the components you included. (A story map or other visual cues may help.) Use the completed Story Map to briefly summarize the story.

3. Read another story to the students and in small groups, have them complete a story map.

4. Share and discuss the completed Story Maps. Use them to summarize the story.

STORY ELEMENTS

Characters

Setting Problem

SolutionEvent

Story Map

Summary Cube

Purpose: • To provide a structure for summarizing factual

information or retelling key points of a story.Procedures:1. Explain and model the idea of cubing to the

students. Describe the information that goes on each side of the cube.

2. Demonstrate through read-aloud and think-aloud the process of determining key ideas about either narrative or expository text to write on the cube.

3. Show the students how to assemble the cube. In small groups, guide the students to read a text and create Summary Cubes. Share ideas with the class. Display Summary Cubes.

4. Encourage students to create their own cubes as follow-ups to reading narrative and expository texts.

Summary Cube

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4

Side 1 Who ? Title Animal Topic

Side 2 What ? Characters Habitat Subtopic 1 and details

Side 3 Where ? Setting Food Subtopic 2 and details

Side 4 When ? Problem Physical Description

Subtopic 3 and details

Side 5 Why ? Solution Classification Summary

Side 6 How ? Theme Illustration Illustration

Information for cubes:

Summary Cube

Key Word Strategy Purpose: • To provide a structure for summarizing factual

information or key points of a story:Procedures: 1. Read a story.2. Reread it with the goal of trying to select a few key

words that seem especially important to the story. Make a list of these words. Be selective. You want the MOST IMPORTANT words.

3. Cut your list apart so that each word can be moved separately.

4. Arrange the words in a way that supports you as you retell the story in your head. (For example, in Cinderella “fireplace: and “cinders” would probably come before “pumpkin.”)

5. Use your words to get you started writing a summary of the story.

Key Word StrategyThe Reader ____________________ Date ____________The Book _______________________________________Key Word List

My summary:

How many of your key words appeared in your summary?

Teaching Strategies• Take articles from the newspaper and sut off

their headlines. Have students practice writing headlines or matching the headlines to the correct story.

• After teaching maid ideas and supporting details, challenge students to “sum up” a story or article the entire class has read together, using no more than 20 words. With partners, have students highlight repeated words or phrases, listing key details. Have volunteers write the 20-word sentences on the board. The class can then vote on the best one.

Teaching Strategies• Model two-column note-taking.

(T-charts) Students learn to record major concepts in the space to the left and supporting details to the rights. For studying, show one section only by folding the paper in half. To use differently, give students a main idea statement and use the two columns for relevant and irrelevant details.

Teaching Strategies

• Have students “reformulate” text into newspaper articles using an inverted pyramid to plan the summary into a headline for the main idea and a lead paragraph for the supporting details. Have them use key words or phrases to identify only who, what, when, where, why and how.

Teaching Strategies

• Teach the purpose of headings. Using a textbook, show how the broadest ideas are set in larger type. As the ideas get more specific the type gets smaller. Typographic cues including titles help students acquire this benchmark skill.