Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: I Can Analyze a Story or History [Pdf]
This graphic organizer can be used to help students analyze a story or a historical event. Students will look closely at the story's characters or people involved in the historical event. Then they will summarize the story or event, and...
Other
Story Corps: Every Voice Matters
StoryCorps is a national oral history project that records and preserves stories of people around the country. Select recordings are broadcast weekly on NPR, with an archive of stories available for playback at the StoryCorps online...
AdLit
Ad lit.org: Classroom Strategies: Story Maps
Story Maps are used for teaching students to work with story structure for better comprehension. This technique uses visual representations to help students organize important elements of a story. Students learn to summarize the main...
Other
Prezi: Summarizing a Text
Slideshow provides an explanation of summarizing and describes how to make a good one.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Book Report Alternative: Examine Story Elements Using Comic Stri
Comic frames are traditionally used to illustrate a story in a short, concise format. In this lesson, students use a six-paneled comic strip frame to create a story map, summarizing a book or story that they have read. Each panel retells...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Expand Story or History Text Based Dialog[pdf]
Students will use graphic organizers to help them make inferences about historical figures' feeings and motives. Students will summarize the information during an extension activity.
Austin Independent School District
Austin Independent School District: Summary of Fiction and Nonfiction Text [Pdf]
This 31-page document focuses on teaching summarizing strategies for use with fiction and nonfiction texts. This series of lesson plans starts with fiction summarizing strategies such as "Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then" and "Story Arch."...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Keepers [Pdf]
"Prairie Keepers" is a one-page, nonfiction passage about how the prairie was saved from total destruction and the efforts of the Department of Agriculture to rebuild the prairie. It is followed by questions which require students to...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: What Is a Fable? [Pdf]
"What is a Fable?" is a one page, nonfiction passage about what a fable is including animals that talk and a lesson learned. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it includes...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Early Chicago Environment & People [Pdf]
"Early Chicago Environment & People" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the Native Americans who lived in what is now Chicago. It explains how they lived and how Chicago got its name. It is followed by constructed-response...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Transportation Workers [Pdf]
"Transportation Workers" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of transportation workers. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes determining the main...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Public Transportation [Pdf]
"Public Transportation" is a one page, nonfiction passage about public transportation in Chicago helps people get where they want to go and provides jobs for many people. It is followed by questions which requires students to provide...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Read to Learn About City Systems [Pdf]
"Read to Learn about City Systems" is a one page, nonfiction passage about government systems and workers that keep people safe including police officers, food inspectors, and water and sewer system workers. It is followed by an...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Read to Learn About Elections [Pdf]
"Read to Learn about Elections" is a one page, nonfiction passage about government systems and workers that keep people safe including police officers, food inspectors, and water and sewer workers. It is followed by an open-ended...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Early Chicago Environment and People [Pdf]
"Early Chicago Environment and People" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the early Native Americans who settled in what is now Chicago. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learn About Physical Therapists [Pdf]
"Learn about Physical Therapists" is a one page, nonfiction passage about what it takes to be a physical therapist. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most...
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Freedom Riders
PBS collects and summarizes the stories of the freedom riders, who, in 1961, challenged segregation in the American South. Includes video clips from the documentary, interactive timeline of key locations and events, biographical...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Mythology and the Odyssey: Myth Summary
This lesson summarizes two myths: Baucis and Philemon, an old couple who took in and cared for Zeus and Hermes who were pretending to be humans and were rewarded for their good deeds; and the story of why we have seasons due to Hades...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Ruby Bridges a Firsthand Account
In this lesson, we will read and understand the story "Through My Eyes" by Ruby Bridges. We will then compare and contrast this first-hand account with the secondhand account of "The Story of Ruby Bridges" by Robert Cole. A video...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: "Seven Strategies to Teach Text Comprehension" by c.r. Adler
In this article, "comprehension strategies" are explained. Supported by research, these strategies are divided into seven different steps, including the following: monitoring comprehension, metacognition, graphic and semantic organizers,...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Summarizing a State's History With a Found Poem
Learners will identify the main message and story behind the song "Cold Missouri Waters," by James Keelaghan; they will use a note-taking strategy and create a "found poem." They will then apply this strategy to an article from a printed...
Other
Wisconsin Educational Communication Board: Into the Book
This series of videos and interactive activities provide an excellent set of resources for teaching or learning the 8 research based reading strategies provided here. After receiving your "key" you can investigate the features inside and...
Daily Teaching Tools
Daily Teaching Tools: Free Graphic Organizers for Planning and Writing
This Daily Teaching Tools resource provides graphic organizers that students can use to plan their written pieces. Graphic organizers for all modes of writing are provided.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Little Red Hen [Pdf]
"The Little Red Hen" is a one page fable about the other animals not helping the little red hen plant wheat, harvest it, or bake the bread, so they did not get to eat it either. It is followed by constructed-response questions which...