Keep it simple! Teach your students to write a summary using the Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then frame for analyzing a story.

Understanding the big idea of a nonfiction text and being able to write a succinct summary are key fourth grade skills. This lesson focuses on summarizing a nonfiction passage in 3-4 sentences.

Students are often taught that written pieces should be long and detailed, but this isn't the case when it comes to summaries. This lesson gives students the chance to practice keeping summaries concise in a fun and engaging way.

Understanding the big idea of a nonfiction text and being able to write a succinct summary are key fourth grade skills. This lesson focuses on summarizing a nonfiction passage in three to four sentences.

Students will learn how to identify story elements and create a short and sweet summary. They will fill out a graphic organizer and solidify their understanding by creating illustrations to show major plot points that they find themselves!

This lesson gives students a structure to help them summarize fiction texts. When they are skilled at summarizing, they will be more capable of exploring various fiction genres. Use it as a precursor to Fiction Genres Library Exploration.

Use this lesson to guide your ELs towards identifying and discussing the problem and solution in a story. Teach this lesson as a stand-alone lesson or as support to the lesson Traditional Literature: Story Mapping.