Lessons to Teach About Summarizing
- Use this activity to condense nonfiction text and locate the main idea. Read a short text and list the who, what, why, when and how details of the article. Next, list 20 important words from the article. Circle five of these words and use them to write a short paragraph about the article. Finally, use two of the circled words to write one "main idea" sentence. What's the Gist? allows students to manipulate the text to aid comprehension.
- Creating a picture book is ideal to use as a culminating activity during a novel study. Divide the class into groups of five. Give the group five sheets of blank paper. One member of the group will write the main idea of the novel on a sheet of paper. Other group members will write a supporting detail on each sheet. Each group member will illustrate his text. Combine all the papers to form a short picture book that focuses on the novel's summary.
- Write the titles of various stories on the board. These may be stories students have read in class, or common tales that many students know. Divide the class into two teams and instruct each team to line up. The teacher reads a short summary of a story. The first person from each team goes to the board and locates the correct story title. The first to touch the correct title gains a point for his team.
- The teacher reads a page of text, while the class listens or reads along silently. Instruct everyone to then close all books and locate a partner. Give each pair an index card. One partner talks for two minutes to summarize what was read. He describes five major points while his partner writes these on the card. He has to talk for two minutes without pausing. The partners switch roles while the teacher reads more text.
