Any elemetary school teachers here?

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quichebradford
quichebradford Posts: 327 Member
in Chit-Chat
My son is in 5th grade and he's having trouble with summarizing. Part of his daily homework is to read for 20 minutes and write a summary of what he read. His idea of a summary is copying a few lines out of the book. I tried to look online for some different tips to help him, something he might be able to grasp a little easier, but what I found was mostly for older students. Is there a website that you know of, or maybe any tips I could use to help him? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

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  • thefelixabides
    thefelixabides Posts: 7
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    I'll ask my wife who has taught middle school before for any suggestions and will post if she has any.
  • scamp45879
    scamp45879 Posts: 9 Member
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    Have him read it and tell you about it. Telling you about it will be his summary. You could tape record him telling you about the story and then he could go back and write down what he said.
  • savanahspring
    savanahspring Posts: 27
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    I'm not a teacher, but I've been to a lot of school!! I would probably have him read for his 20 minutes then have him tell you about what he read...and there is your summary!
  • elsham
    elsham Posts: 549 Member
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    Who, what, where, when, why how never fails. And problem/solution. Have him write a sentence about who was involved in what, what happened, where and when, what the problem was/why there was a problem, and how they solved it. Viola, there's your summary. I think breaking it down should help. Good luck!

    Edit: Actually, I don't know what the teacher wants. My idea of a summary isn't EVERY excruciating detail of the plot. I know when I ask my brother to tell me about what he read, he tells me EVERYTHING. An overall idea should be enough though. Isn't that what a summary is?
  • Fairysoul
    Fairysoul Posts: 1,361 Member
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    Tel him a summary is his explination of what the story is about...
  • skinnny1day
    skinnny1day Posts: 50
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    Maybe have him jot down on a piece of paper the "who, what, where, when, why" and see if that helps him write a summary a little better?
  • sara21
    sara21 Posts: 37 Member
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    Hi. I am an Elementary School Teacher. Have your son get his book as well as a blank sheet of paper and try the Read, Cover, Recite, and Draw strategy. Make him a little poster he can reference while he's reading to remember the steps.

    1. Read - Read a paragraph (or the whole page if that's not too much for him).
    2. Cover - Cover what you've read with your hand.
    3. Recite - Out loud, tell what the page/paragraph was about in one or two sentences. What are the main events/main points?
    4. Draw - On your paper, draw a sketch that will remind you of what the section was about.

    Repeat these steps until you've finished the text.

    When you are finished reading, look back at your pictures and use them as visual cues in order to summarize the text.

    * Also, have him stop to visualize while reading (close his eyes, imagine what is happening, see a "movie" in his mind). That should help.

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