Syracuse City School District
Summary of Fiction and Non-Fiction Text
Somebody Wanted But So Then (SWBST)? Yes! Here's a great strategy for teaching young readers how to summarize narrative text. In addition, the packet includes exercises that show kids how to summarize nonfiction text using the classic...
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Short and Sweet
Students examine how to summarize information from expository text. They read an expository text and identify the important information from the reading. Students identify the topic sentence and write their own topic sentences.
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Cooperative Classroom Text Features Activities
Fifth graders examine text features and create a PowerPoint presentation. In this text features lesson, 5th graders go over Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures and text features before they choose one to include in a book and...
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The Solar System
Looking for a cross-curricular project for language arts and science? Use this lesson to reinforce knowledge of the Solar System, as well as expository writing skills. Elementary and middle schoolers choose one aspect of the Solar System...
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To Sum it all Up...
Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. They read and discuss the steps to summarize text, then in small groups read and summarize an article about frogs from "National Geographic" online. Independently they...
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To Sum It All Up...
Students one main goal when reading is to comprehend, and one strategy to improve reading comprehension is summarization. As students begin reading expository texts, it is vital for them to be able to pick out and summarize the main...
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Summing it all Up...In Your Own Words
Students observe and demonstrate the steps to identifying the main ideas of a text. They listen to the teacher read a paragraph and model the steps of summarizing the main idea. Students then independently read a different paragraph...
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Poetic Justice: Understanding the Life of a Tethered Dog
The Humane Society provides a activity in which class members explore the issue of tethering dogs. Through the resources used -- a comic, a poem, and narrative and expository writings -- class members realize that messages can be...
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Pizza Biography
A biography writing lesson with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how to...
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Teaching the Kono Salmon Kite
Learners complete several student readings involving kite making and kite flying. They analyze how the parts of a system go together and how these parts depend on each other. They comprehend how different environments both provide...
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Reading to Learn
Students participate in a instructional activity that reinforces reading skills. Specifically, this instructional activity focuses on the skill of summarization. This strategy teaches students how to better comprehend written text.
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Keywords: A Memorization Strategy
Here is a fabulous, five-page lesson plan on how keywords can help a reader with his/her reading comprehension. After a teacher-led discussion, pupils pair off with each other and work together to identify the main idea in a passage of...
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Remembering Reptiles
Students will learn to use outlines as a comprehension strategy. Summarization is the most important comprehension strategy, and should be taught to maturing readers. During this lesson learners use the story of a reptile to practice...
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Stone Fox Plot Frame
Fifth graders recall the major plot points of a chapter book. After reading the chapter book "Stone Fox," they students describe the plot framework through use of a worksheet. Students are then divided into group to act out selected...
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CSAP Preparation: Don't Wait for the "Eleventh Hour"
Fifth graders participate in language arts activities designed to prepare them for taking standardized tests. The language arts format covers science and social studies content. Handouts and worksheets are included in the instructional...