Research by McRel has shown that "summarizing and note-taking" are two of the top strategies for student learning. If a student can recall the most-important events of a story and retell it fluently in their own words, then they have clearly understood the content.
"Purple Readers" from our Houghton-Mifflin curriculum.
This year our class has read over a dozen short fictional stories in their "Purple Readers." For the following activity, I reviewed with the students what a summary was (a concise retelling of information in your own words), and then had them partner up into groups of two or three.
Bláthnaid and Natalie getting ready to read their story.
Next, they selected a story and re-read it together so it would be fresh in their minds.
James and Van re-reading their selected story.
As students read, they used sticky notes to record each important event.
Maizy, Celia, and Dylan reading through the story again to ensure that they didn't miss any important details.
Will, Harrison, and Jonah debating which events were most important to the story.
James and Van looking at their stickies.
After they had finished the story and had a collection of sticky notes, they sequenced them in chronological order. Once in order, they discussed the importance of each event and together made tough decisions as they narrowed the sticky notes into the most important five events of the story. These events would then become the backbone for their summary.
Charlie and Harrison discussing the importance of each event.
Daniel's head was spinning after he and Quinn successfully narrowed down their sticky notes to the final five.
Nicholas and Aidan consulting with Mrs. Held about their stickies.
Once groups had an adult review their five sticky notes with them, they rewrote them as a summary in their own words. Groups had a choice to write it on paper, in Notability, or in Pages. Some students even pulled out their plug-and-play keyboard so that they could type their summary! After having their final summary approved for fluency and tone, the students began capturing pictures to use for their movie. This was easy. They simply used their iPads to take pictures of the images already in their "Purple Readers." These images were brought into iMovie where they were cropped and positioned.
Lachlan positioning his image in iMovie.
Once students had the images, they printed their summary and used it to narrate into iMovie. Finally, they added sound effects and music to complete their project.
I will be posting finished videos here after we review them in class and all students have a chance to make final edits.
Special thanks to Mrs. Held for helping us both days!
-Mr. Devoto
Special thanks to Mrs. Held for helping us both days!
-Mr. Devoto
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