Create a Nonfiction Text Summary

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling

• Read aloud the introduction and first page from the text Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies by Mel Boring (or a similar nonfiction text).
• As you read, pause to think aloud. You can say something like, “It seems like this book is about caterpillars, bugs, and butterflies because they all have something in common: change. Hmm. This sounds like it might be the main idea, or what the book is about and why.”
• Continue to read, pausing to notice important words, facts, and text features.

Guided Practice

• Project the Nonfiction Text Summary Organizer on the whiteboard/smartboard so that you can write on it and the class can easily read as you write.
• Fill in the beginning of the worksheet quickly (title of the book, author’s name) while telling the class what you are doing and showing them where you found the title/author information on the text.
• Under the section titled “Main Idea,” and ask the students what they think the main idea was. Have them pair-share with a partner and then share out. Record answers on the worksheet.
• Next, ask the class what three facts they learned when listening to you read. Ask them to think of a fact and give a thumbs up when they have one. Call on 3–5 students to share their facts. Record.
• Open the pages you read and ask students which text features they notice on the page, remind students the names of key text features (caption, photo/illustration, titles, headings, diagram, etc.) as needed.
• Ask the class what was one thing they learned while listening to the text, and choose one answer to record.
• Explain that you just created a nonfiction text summary and that now students will get to practice creating their own summaries using a nonfiction text of their choosing.

Independent working time

• Show the students a variety of grade appropriate nonfiction texts (and/or pass out a photocopy of one page from the Caterpillar, Bugs, and Butterflies text or a similar text) that all students will use.
• Project the worksheet titled Nonfiction Text Summary Organizer that you filled out in the previous section, and explain that now you will pass out a worksheet to each student and they will complete the text summary independently.