Adventures in Literacy Land: summarizing

Showing posts with label summarizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summarizing. Show all posts

Summarizing... Getting to the HEART of the Story

Summarizing gets to the heart of the story.  Starting with stating summaries orally, students can be instructed to write independent summaries with ease.

SOMEBODY...

Summarizing gets to the heart of the story.  Starting with stating summaries orally, students can be instructed to write independent summaries with ease.
Another Reading Comprehension strategy that can be used in all primary classrooms is Summarizing.  Too often students think summarizing is retelling.  In order to get a quick summary you need to get to the heart of the story.

The easiest technique for early readers is SOMEBODY…WANTED… BUT… SO… AND technique.  I would be happy to credit to the one who thought of this technique…because it is genius!  The problem with credit is I’ve seen it in so many places, I’m not sure who came up with this originally.  That being said, it’s a keeper!

WANTED...

I first used this technique with my kindergarten class.  We were addicted to Magic Tree House Books (that’s another post for another day) and we started practicing our summarizing after each chapter.  I made a poster with the 5 words on it as a reminder.  We did not write down the summaries…we only practiced the summaries orally.  This year, I taught my first and second grade students to summarize using this technique.  We made a poster as an anchor chart using their words.  Getting them to define the word will give them ownership and increase understanding.

BUT...

We started with a whole group S...W...B...S...A. After reading a short story, we used the chart to fill in the blanks and write a summary sentence.  This can be broken into more sentences, as the summaries are more complex.

SO...

We practiced this with all the stories we read.  It is perfect for the shorter guided reading books that have a plot line…usually starting with Level D.  It was wonderful to watch students discover there was more than one way to write a summary.  After plenty of supported practice, this is an option in their reading response journals.

AND...

We also talked about how we could use it for our longer books.  After reading “The Magic Bike” from Reading A-Z and we wrote a longer summary.  We started with an introduction sentence.  Then, wrote the beginning of the summary using Somebody…Wanted…But…So…And.  Realizing this didn’t quite tell the story, we had to add another But…So…And to finish the story summary. Sometimes, you will see SOMEBODY... WANTED... BUT... SO...AND...THEN... SO... FINALLY.  These are all good options, depending on the story.

DON'T FORGET...

The SWBSA Paint Chip Summary Bookmarks from an earlier post about paint chips.

For a FREEBIE Summarizing Set, click the link.

Feel Free to Pin this Post for later:






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6 Things To Do with Paint Chips

I LOVE paint chips. They can be used for so many things in and out of the classroom. This post is about 6 ways to use these in your classroom.
I can't help it.  There is something about those multi-hue swatches that is so appealing.  I used them when I taught a scrapbook class on colors.  AND I love the commercials from Sherman-Williams using animated paint chips.   (It's long, so just watch a few seconds.)
I can't help it.  There is something about those multi-hues that is so appealing.  I used them when I taught a scrapbook class on colors.  AND I love the commercials from Sherman-Williams using animated paint chips.   Here are a few ideas for using them in your classroom.
I LOVE paint chips. They can be used for so many things in and out of the classroom. This post is about 6 ways to use these in your classroom.

1. Vocabulary Gradients

I love this idea.  It's a play on "Said is dead!"  If you want your students to stop using "generic" adjectives like cold, hot, small, and big, give them other ideas.  True text gradients, show words on a scale...icy is colder than cold, but arctic is colder than icy.  However, using smaller or shortened paint chips, even kindergarten can use it to describe "small" as tiny, little, or itty-bitty.  Vocabulary gradients can be alternative adjectives.  Students can also be given a mentor text to hunt for words on the gradient.  In the book "Shiver Me Letters:  A Pirate ABC," students can work in pairs in a word hunt to find words for said and write them on the paint chips.  They can find roared, cried, yelled, questioned, and moaned.) Later, when they are writing you can encourage them to make their writing "colorful."
I LOVE paint chips. They can be used for so many things in and out of the classroom. This post is about 6 ways to use these in your classroom.

2. Word Family Fluency Flips

As a word family is introduced, this is fun way to practice changing the onset.  Write several words from a single family on a colored strip and secure them with a ring.  Providing the students with word family words on a ring can create a fluency activity for independent reading.  
I LOVE paint chips. They can be used for so many things in and out of the classroom. This post is about 6 ways to use these in your classroom.

3. Fill in the Blanks

I would suggest laminating these cards and allowing students to use a dry erase marker, but make sure they know they can't erase until someone checks their work.  You can even tell them to write it with dry erase first, then copy the strips to a piece of paper.  This could also be adapted for several math activities, including filling in the missing addend, counting by 2, 5, or 10's, multiplication facts, and patterns.
I LOVE paint chips. They can be used for so many things in and out of the classroom. This post is about 6 ways to use these in your classroom.

4. Compound Words

This is a "newfangled" (it's a word) paint chip is great for anything that needs to be constructed or deconstructed.  Again, laminate and use dry erase.  They set above is for compound words, but it could be used for prefixes, suffixes, contractions, and...who knows what else.  Again, this can be used for math with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts (to name a few).
I LOVE paint chips. They can be used for so many things in and out of the classroom. This post is about 6 ways to use these in your classroom.

5. Summary Bookmarks

This activity combines three of my favorite things:  The Magic Tree House, SWBSA, and paint chips. Providing students with a bookmark for their summary is the perfect way to create a reading response activity.  If you'd like a full description of the summary strategy Somebody, Wanted, But, So, And, CLICK HERE. These can also be laminated for extended use.
I LOVE paint chips. They can be used for so many things in and out of the classroom. This post is about 6 ways to use these in your classroom.

6. Classroom Fun

Finally, this is just a fun one.  I loved making these ornaments at our Winter Party.  

Want more?

Check out my Pinterest Board for Paint Chips.

Be Fair

Don't clean out any paint supply section.  Get what you need here and there...and laminate when you can. For those of you who don't have access to paint chips, I made a sample pack of things to do.  If you'd like the Paint Chip Samples, click the link.


SO this is my mini-obsession.  Do you use these differently? Although I posted this originally on my blog, Cathy Collier's The W.I.S.E. Owl, I thought it was definitely worth the re-post.  I hope you agree.





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Super Summarizing in Fiction and Nonfiction Text




           I am a reading specialist at a K-5 Title I school just outside of Boston. I have noticed over the years that we are beginning to get an influx of ELL students and homeless, shelter or transient students for whom traditional methods have not worked. In addition, their time in school may be fractured with frequent visits to their home country for 4-6 weeks during the year. All of this leads to a lack of strong comprehension with fiction and nonfiction text.

         Today, I would like to share with you a recent professional development presentation that I have adapted for use in Grades K-6 classrooms as a starting point for teaching the beginning steps in summarizing. My design and layouts for this set are very simple and streamlined because I find that if they are already struggling in reading.... they do not need any additional distractions on a page. They need a simple layout that they can follow and use over and over again... in my room, with their classroom teacher, with a specialist, and at home with Mom and Dad.







  Super Summarizing in Nonfiction Text !



Anchor Chart for Beginning Summarizers of Nonfiction Text:



Use with a K-1 student or for an older student to introduce the concept of summary:



This chart is appropriate for K-1 students and beginning of the year 2nd grade students. It can be used with upper grade students in ELL/SEI classrooms as well.


 Ideally for upper level 2nd grade students as well as 3rd-4th grade students:

 This anchor chart is appropriate for independent learners at grades 4-6. It would work well for younger students who need an additional challenge in the area of summarizing.
 For accomplished summarizers...


Super Summarizing... Fictional Text !


Somebody Wanted But So... introducing this strategy at a variety of levels...



Anchor Chart for Beginning Summarizers of Fictional Text:


Perfect for K-1 students or older kids who benefit from storyboards and visual support:



For K, 1 and early 2nd grade students as well as older, reluctant writers:



Graphic organizers for students in grades 2-4:



Anchor chart for accomplished summarizers...
Graphic organizer for grades 4-6 students who can summarize independently:



From May 19th- May 26th, 2015, you may download the entire presentation along with graphic organizers as my gift to you.
 


After that time, you may find this unit in my shop under the name: Super Summarizers  {Fiction and Nonfiction}.  My link is www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/Ms-Ds-Literacy-Lab.

I hope all of you have a fun and fantastic start to summer !

 





Thanks to these talented designers for graphics support !












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Responding to Informational Text using the 3-2-1 Strategy!

Hello, friends!  We are Colleen and Stacy from The Rungs of Reading here to talk to you about an effective "After Reading" strategy for informational text called 3-2-1!  This strategy can be used in both primary and intermediate grades in whole-class, small group, or individual settings.  The 3-2-1 strategy is especially successful with struggling readers as it helps them comprehend, summarize, and retain information they've read.
The 3-2-1 strategy can be used with informational books, magazine articles, biographies, even websites!  Here are a few of our favorite books and websites we have used with this strategy!




After reading, exploring, and discussing an informational text or website, students actively engage with their reading by summarizing three important points from the text.  Summarizing requires the reader to focus on the major elements of the text and to determine what is important.  When students are selecting these important points, the teacher should guide students in choosing new facts and information they learned from the text (not prior knowledge).


After recording three new discoveries on their graphic organizers, students go back into their reading to choose two interesting facts.  At this point, the teacher should guide students in selecting facts and information that is unusual or exciting.  For example, "the baobab tree can reach the height of a five story building".  


Finally, students brainstorm and record one question they still have about the topic they read.  This is a good opportunity for students to share and discuss their questions with classmates in preparation of additional research.  Students complete the graphic organizer by drawing an interesting photograph, diagram, timeline, etc. that illustrates the topic they read about.



We hope you enjoyed learning more about the 3-2-1 reading strategy!  Here is a little FREEBIE to get you started!  Depending upon the age and ability of your students, you may want to differentiate your expectations when having them complete the graphic organizer.  For example, younger students or struggling readers can be instructed to copy facts and information directly from the text.  Older or more capable students can be instructed to paraphrase or summarize information in their own words.  When initially modeling the strategy for students, you can explain which expectation you would like them to follow.
 3-2-1- Strategy Graphic Organizer


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