Summarizing is an important skill for middle schoolers to learn, both for reading comprehension and for effective writing. By helping students practice summarizing in the classroom, teachers can help create lifelong readers and writers. Here are 20 activities for middle school students to practice summarizing.
1. Summarizing Paragraphs: Give students a paragraph to read and have them rewrite the paragraph in their own words.
2. Multiple Choice Summaries: Provide students with multiple summary sentences and have them choose which one best summarizes the text.
3. Summarization Sentences: Give students a passage to read and have them write one sentence that summarizes the entire passage.
4. Summarization Scavenger Hunt: Give students a list of key terms in a text and have them search the text for evidence of each term.
5. Summarization Puzzle: Ask students to create a summarization puzzle by writing a summarize of a passage on a sheet of paper and then cutting it into small pieces. Have them put the pieces back together to create the summary.
6. Summarization Wheels: Give students a wheel with several spokes representing different elements of a text. Have them fill in each spoke with a summary of the text.
7. Summarization Games: Create a summarization game in which students have to summarize a text and then answer questions about it.
8. Summarization Bookmarks: Give students a text and have them create bookmarks summarizing each chapter.
9. Summarization Posters: Have students create posters summarizing a text.
10. Summarization Skits: Have students create a skit summarizing a text.
11. Summarization Songs: Ask students to create a song summarizing a text.
12. Summarization Videos: Have students create a video summarizing a text.
13. Summarization Interviews: Have students conduct an interview with a summarizer who has read the text.
14. Summarization Surveys: Give students a text and have them create a survey to test their peers’ understanding of it.
15. Summarization Quizzes: Ask students to create a quiz to test their peers’ understanding of a text.
16. Summarization Articles: Have students create an article summarizing a text.
17. Summarization Flashcards: Ask students to create flashcards summarizing a text.
18. Summarization Webpages: Have students create a webpage summarizing a text.
19. Summarization Text Messages: Have students create a text message summarizing a text.
20. Summarization Podcasts: Ask students to create a podcast summarizing a text.
These activities are fun and engaging ways to help middle schoolers practice summarizing. By helping students hone this skill, teachers can help foster lifelong readers and writers.
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