Spotlight on Strategies
Summarizing
Background
Summarizing is a higher level reading strategy and can be a difficult one for second graders to learn and do independently. However, it's important because it teaches them how to pick out the most important ideas in a text (beginning, middle and end). Summarizing improves comprehension and can also be used in almost all content areas. One interesting fact that I read was that we need to allow students to make their own decisions about what's important in the story and not just copy/learn the teacher's summary. Summarizing also helps students recognize cause and effect relationships, make generalizations, identify differences between characters and look at various points of view. I teach my second graders how to summarize using the Somebody, Wanted, But, So strategy.
Example
After the first read and modeling session (and on a different day), I read another picture book aloud and release some responsibility to my students. This is where I would have them fill in the graphic organizer on their own as I read. As I teach them this strategy, I also incorporate beginning, middle and end language. The video below is so much fun for them to see too! As they watch, I ask them to summarize the little story in the video with a partner, using an organizer. Don't be afraid to stop and discuss, discuss, discuss!
Resources
Anchor Chart Example
Summarizing Organizer
Summarizing Video
Challenge!
App Suggestions
Common Core Standards
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Resources and Citations
Resources and Citations
The Pinspired Teacher (photo) retrieved from
http://thepinspiredteacher.com/
Step Into Second Grade (organizer) retrieved from
http://www.stepinto2ndgrade.com/
Summarizing video retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E9V1D2OLkw
Anchor Chart Article retrieved from
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2014/03/anchor-charts-effective-teacherstudent-tool
Common Core Standards retrieved from