Summarizing


 * Strategy - Somebody Wanted But So**

This is an effective strategy for summarizing fiction. I started with modeling using a picture book. Due to having a substitute the following day, I had the students try it on their own using a story from [|Storyline Online] that reads the story aloud to the students. I didn't want decoding issues to get in the way of the students first attempt to use the strategy on their own. Although the information they wrote on the template was very scattered and inaccurate, when I came back the next day and we discussed the story, they were able to fill in most of the template as a group with minor prompts as to the meaning of each column. We listened to the story again and they were able to complete the template accurately. They are using the same template for the independent novels they are reading. Although I think they will need a lot more guided practice, they have already made a lot of progress.


 * on a side note, I've been using this strategy with my 3rd grade son for his book reports that require a short summary of the book they've read. He didn't like it for one of the books he read, but used it recently after reading the last of the __Wimpy Kid__ books and it worked very well.

[|Template]