Teachers! Help your students learn to summarize with this summarizing activity unit designed for kindergarten through 3rd grade classrooms.
I am so excited to share my new summarizing unit with you! My kids love summarizing using the SWBST strategy. Read on to learn about what is included in the unit and how to use it in your classroom.
What is the SWBST Strategy?
The SWBST strategy is one of the easiest ways to help students learn the art of summarizing. The letters stand for:
- Somebody
- Wanted
- But
- So
- Then
These are the main elements of any story that students learn to identify in order to summarize. The simplicity of this strategy makes it perfect for teaching young children how to summarize.
How to Use the SWBST Strategy in the Classroom
Before reading, the teacher goes over the SWBST words and what they mean so that children can be actively listening for the answers to the following questions:
- Somebody: Who is the main character?
- Wanted: What are they trying to achieve?
- But: What issue do they face?
- So: How do they attempt to fix it?
- Then: What happened in the end?
After reading, students reference these words/questions in order to summarize what the story is about.
Elementary Summarizing Activity Unit
Let’s Summarize is jam PACKED with goodies to help your little ones in K through 3rd master the art of summarizing. I get giddy just looking at all the fun and colorful stuff on the cover!!
Speaking of colorful… I decided to completely color code SWBST. I thought it would be helpful for my kiddos to recognize each part if they were also associated with a color. So far, so good! Throughout the pack, the posters, cards and examples use the same colors for each element: pink (somebody), purple (wanted), blue (but), green (so), and orange (then).
This color-coding system works as great visual reinforcement to help my young students remember the different elements.
This color coding is consistent throughout my Let’s Summarize unit. You can see how I used color in the anchor chart story I created to help students understand the meaning behind SWBST:
I think most people have heard the story of the princess and her frog prince, so I used that as my example! After I introduce the posters, I model how to put the information into a quick summary using complete sentences.
How I Use the Let’s Summarize Unit
Next, I like to pull a favorite book out of my collection and read it to my class. I used Click, Clack, Peep! Then we use the color-coded SWBST cards to write important information as a whole group. I stress that at this point, it’s okay not to use complete sentences:
Again, I show my first graders how to put the information together (they help make the sentences longer by adding in little bits of information that they remember from the story). After the summary is complete, I underline the sentences- color coded, of course!- to show each part of SWBST:
Summarizing SWBST Practice Worksheets
To give my littles more practice, I created printables with eight original passages. On each page, students can read the story, and then go back and “highlight” the important parts using… the color code, of course!
Use Interactive Notebooks to Summarize
I also created two interactive notebook pages. Students can color the flap appropriately and write the important questions under the flaps (somebody – who is the main character? etc.):
The second page has the important questions already printed, so kiddos can use it to summarize a story on their own. There is also a generic summarizing sheet in the pack!
I also included a little craftivity in this pack… are you surprised?! It’s a flip book craft, and there is space for students to summarize a story in pictures or words underneath. I just love it!!
Get Your Copy of the Let’s Summarize Unit
If you like what you see here, you can grab Let’s Summarize in my TpT shop!! I hope you love it!!
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Cool resource. I have never taught first grade how to summarise but that I like your method. I can see how students would understand it better.