Teaching Summarizing with Narrative Texts in Third Grade (REL West)

This video was created by REL West as part of the Toolkit for Teaching K–3 Reading Comprehension. In the video, you’ll see a third grade teacher support and provide opportunities for her students to practice summarizing texts. For these lessons, the teacher selected two narrative texts about pets, a topic about which her students have background knowledge and interest. Students use the organizer Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then (SWBST) to create their summaries. The teacher provides a gradual release of responsibility from direct instruction and modeling to providing opportunities for independence as students learn to use the strategy of summarizing. This recording was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) under Contract 91990022C0003 by Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) West at WestEd. The content of the publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IES or the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.