Summarization

I got my first Summarization Unit put together and just put the finishing touches on it.  I am starting this unit with "Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night" by Cynthia Rylant--this is a story in the SF Reading Street 2nd Grade Basal.  Again--I am incorporating the Basal, but only for the story.  :)  (There is a special freebie for you RS friends on this post, so don't miss it!)  Then, the rest of the week, I am using OTHER Henry and Mudge books.

So...here's how I introduce Summarizing---LOTS of Thinking Aloud!  Pick a picture book to read aloud to your students.  I'm using the Henry and Mudge books--4 different books.  Go through the story and pick 4-5 stopping points.  I usually just mark them with a post-it note.  At each of those stopping points, I have created what I call "Summarizing Strips."  These are statements that will go with each section of the story.  Explain to the students that "Good readers think about the most important parts of the stories they are reading.  Last week, we talked about the characters (who) and the setting (when/where) of stories, but you can also think about events (what happens) in the story as well." 

Mix up your "strips" and put them on your board (you can put magnets on the back or just use regular board magnets).  (Please excuse the pictures on my "workstation," commonly known as a TV tray...)

Read each of the statements to the students so they know what they should be listening for.  Start reading the story, and stop at the first stopping point.  Model thinking aloud to determine which of the summarizing strips is the summary for THAT portion of the story.  Set that sentence aside at the top of a new column. 

Continue to the next stopping point, then repeat--model thinking aloud to determine which statement summarizes THAT portion.  Now...there are some details mixed in with the summarizing strips so that you can discuss the differences between the summary of that section and a detail of that section.  If there IS a detail, then you will put it underneath the summary, but "indented" so that it is not quite lined up with the summaries.

Read to the third stopping point.  Now, allow for guided practice with a partner.  This could be a great "Teach OK" moment if you are doing WBT.  Have students turn to face their partner and chat about the third stopping point.  After they have some time to share ideas, call them back (Class YES!) and share with the group their choice for the third stopping point summary and if there may be a detail involved.

Continue to the end of the story, repeating the same steps. 

To conclude, discuss how summarizing helps good readers remember the most important ideas about a story.  Talk about the differences between details and summaries.  That is the end of Day 1.  Day 2 is the SAME exact process--thinking aloud, modeling, partnering up, etc.--with a new story.  For me, I will use a different Henry and Mudge book.

Day 3--GUIDED PRACTICE
At this point, you are getting the students involved with the WHOLE process--turning over a little more "work" to them.  You're reading a new story--like another Henry and Mudge book! :)  This time, you will pass out student versions of the summarizing strips as well as a graphic organizer for them to use.

Student versions of the summarizing strips

Graphic Organizer

Have the students cut out the summarizing strips and lay them out on their desks, just like you did up on the board.  Read the strips aloud to the students.  (These pictures are of an OLD version of the graphic organizer that I just updated.)

Read your story to the first stopping point.  On their own, have the students decide which strip goes with #1.  If it is a summary, it goes on top.  If it is a detail, it goes on bottom.  Discuss the answer together.  THEN allow them to glue.  No gluing until you have gone over the answer.

Continue on through each stopping point, going over the answers each time, until you get to the end.  Now you can go back and read the summaries together and have a short paragraph that tells what happened in the story. 

The first time we did the class activity together, some of my lower students got confused if I wasn't right there showing them what to do.  You will need to take it slow the first time around.  Walk around a lot and check to see that they are getting it or not.  If not, then this is definitely something you will want to do during small group time.  After the first time around, it seemed to get easier for the class as a whole.  We even did this with other books later on in the year as review.

You will do the same process on Day 4 as you did on Day 3, except this time, it is more independent work.  You could even allow them to do it with a partner, if they need a little more support.  You will read a NEW read aloud to them, with the stopping points marked.  This time, you will pause, and let them take over and do the work on their own.  After you have finished reading the book, go over the answers together.  Depending on how your class did as a whole on Day 3, you may not want them to glue their strips down until you go over the answers together.

So...this is how I introduce summarization! :)  Last year, we were only able to do one week of summarization at the beginning of the year, thanks to Hurricane Irene (We started school a week later, so we had to scale back on some of our units.), so I will be creating a NEW Summarization Unit #2 very soon! :)  I have a few ideas that I didn't use in this unit, so be on the lookout for that. 

Now...you may be thinking to yourself..."Well, self, I don't really WANT to use all Henry and Mudge books! I would love to do a different unit instead!" Well, I have not forgotten about you.  I have also included in my unit, BLANK copies of all of the activities you will need--a blank Summarizing Strips page for the whole group activity, as well as each of the student pages as blank copies.  I have made blank student versions for a 4 stopping point book and 5 stopping point book.  Make sense?

I have everything you will need for EACH of the 4 Henry and Mudge stories I am using--"Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night," "Henry and Mudge the First Book," "Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend," and "Henry and Mudge Get the Cold Shivers."  I have made Whole Group AND Student Summarizing Strips for each story, so you can do them in ANY order you'd like.

If you would like to purchase my unit on Summarization, I have put it on TPT on SALE for $2.50  just for you for the next two days. Go scoop it up before it goes back to it's regular price on Saturday! :)  Click the picture to go to TPT.

But of course, I couldn't leave you without a freebie!!  Soooo...as a special treat to all my Reading Street friends who are trying to break away from the restrictions of a Basal...I have put all of the "Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night" pages together in a special freebie that you can download {HERE}.  Let me know what you think!

What do YOU do to teach/introduce Summarization?