Summarizing - somebody*wanted*but*so

After we read students often have to summarize: that means to give the main ideas. Summarizing is one way to show we understand what we read. I remember this being a very hard thing for my daughter to learn. In order to help readers learn this skill we can support them with a learning strategy called Somebody-Wanted-But-So.

I like to have readers use a template like the image below to keep them focused and organized. The link above will give you access to a printable template. But this is not necessary because parents or teachers can simply ask the prompt questions or draw columns on a blank sheet of paper. As readers reply they are not only summarizing what they red with our help, but if they are English Language Learners they are getting oral practice as well.

Follow these steps:
1. Start by having the reader pick a character from the story (or a participant if the story is non-fiction).

2. Then ask the student to state what that character wants according to the story (the "wanted" of the strategy).

3. Now have the student think about an exception to what the character wants (the "but" of the strategy).

4. finally, finish with what the character does to resolve the exception (the "so" part of the strategy).

An example of a completed sentence would look something like this:

(somebody) Little Red Ridinghood wanted the person in the bed to be her grandmother but she wasn't sure it was so she began to ask questions.

I would encourage you to view this sample page; I found it really helpful when I was first learning this strategy.