Sum-It-Up Strategy

The “Sum It Up” summary can be any amount of money based on the difficulty of the task.  (For example $3.50 Summary made from 35 words.)  The teacher tells the students that they are going to place a classified ad in the local newspaper and each word they use will cost 10 cents.  They only have $2.00 to spend.  They will need to have only 20 words, no more or no less, to use in their summary.

Steps:

1.        Read Part A of the text British Raids.

2.        While you are reading, list key words or phrases in the blank space provided on the “Sum It Up” table. The words must convey the main idea of the passage.

3.        Use the main idea words listed from the table to write a 20 word Main Idea Summary Statement.  (Teachers:  Use very short passages or a multi-paragraph passage from a magazine, newspaper, social studies text, or novel etc.) www.readingquest.org