[Sebastian]

I plan to teach/write summaries with my second graders as a intro. to writing Book Reviews. Any advice and/or ideas???
Thank you!

[suziesosa]

I found a great idea on here...and now my students know it as a pneumonic device. When writing a summary do:
Somebody:
Wanted:
But:
So:
Then:

Then you take out the word "somebody" and you have an instant summary.

Ex. Cinderella

Cinderella wanted freedom to live her life, but her evil stepmother and stepmothers always made her clean the house. So the good fairy came and granted Cinerella her wish. Then she met her Prince Charming and lived happily ever after.

[gladgrad09]

I used it this fall in 4th grade. It went very well.
I was a preservice teacher. I made it into a graphic organizer.
I made four sections each labeled with: somebody, wanted, but, so.
It was like a large plus sign. Then I left the bottom 1/4 of the paper with a line above it all the way across the page. This allowed the student room to take that information from each square (section) and turn it into a summary on the bottom of the page.
Make sense?

[imalith]

How about just beginning, middle, end. They could draw pictures to start.

The summary really differs according to the genre. For a character/problem/solution narrative story, the summary needs to reflect the character, the struggle, and the solution. In a personal experience narrative, or a descriptive narrative, sometimes beginning/middle/and end is sufficient. However, an expository piece is constructed differently, with an emphasis on topic and main ideas that explore aspects of the topic. That's a very different summary. In short, the summarizing framework must reflect the organization and purpose of the piece. (BTW - the summarizing framework can serve as a prewriting tool as well. The author uses it as a means of shaping the piece of writing, moving, during the writing process from summary to full elaboration, and the reader uses it to deconstruct the piece, moving from full elaboration to the author's story plan. A terrific reading/writing connection. However, the summarizing framework doesn't help students elaborate - using a tool like the narrative writing diamond or the expository pillar framework can help students flesh out a piece.)

[Sebastian]

I will take all suggestion to heart. I will experiment with a few of these ideas. The important thing is to remember that my children are in second grade and this can be a challenge.

[sheesha]

I start the children writing prelim. summaries in their retellings of our books out loud, and then on paper. This helps them begin to put thought in writing and not only through voice. Then, they move to the same in reading groups, but have to tell in another part of the summary, what they feel about the book, and what parts they are backing up their opinion or statements with. This teaches them to look for specific details to back up what they say. Now, they are doing this without hesitation, more like a third grade lit. circle.

[kitty2cats]

I recently started teaching a Soar to Success grade 3 group. What I'm finding is that the kids who need interventions require a ton of verbal practice before they can transition the summarizing to written language. We are moving along gradually, using sentence frames, fill-ins, graphic organizers and such.

A pneumonic device is related to the lungs. A mnemonic device is probably what you're thinking of.

Hi i'm a third grader and i think that is an awesome way to do a summary.