Looking for creative ways to have students summarize a reading or what they learned from a lesson? Try these to make summarizing both more interesting and meaningful.
A-Z Summary: Take post it notes or 3x5 index cards and write a letter of the alphabet in the top left corner. Students must then start the first sentence of their summary with that letter. I usually skip letters hard letters like Q and X or easy letters like T because they could just write "the." By having to think of a way to start the sentence with a certain letter, it forces them to think more about the topic and what they learned. I used this after a class discussion of the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists and it allowed me to make sure the students who were not as vocal still understood the main arguments of each side. It is a great tool to use when you have an extra few minutes in class. It could even be modified in creative ways such as, write the second letter of your last name.
3-2-1: On a post it note, students write 3 things that they learned that day, 2 things they found surprising or interesting and 1 question they still have. This way you can check for understanding and find out what areas need more clarification for students.
# of Words Summary: Some students often write too little or too much when summarizing. Try requiring students to write a summary that is exactly the number of words you assign, no more and no less. This forces them to decide what is most important. It is best to do this strategy in groups the first time as it can be really tough for students to do if they have not had a lot of experience with how to summarize effectively.
