Teaching Summary

My husband made a request about two years ago that all kid’s shoes in the house need to be velcro because “it makes his life easier.”  I get it!  There are moments when we need to get out of the house quickly and tying shoes “tight enough” can be a bit of a pain in the rear.  So until today, I happily honored his request.

My son is now six and is headed off into first grade next Wednesday.  I was thinking that perhaps I had dropped the ball this summer as a mom, as I sent him back to school in yet another pair of velcro shoes.  You see, teachers make the request also that students wear shoes that they can “fasten” themselves.

So at the shoe store today we found some perfect shoes.  Got feet sized, plucked shoes from the box, placed them on feet, and raced around the store to test them out.  The only problem, the shoes with velcro, “didn’t fit tightly enough” or “were just too big.”  Oh dear!

So my son and I made a pact-today would be the day we would pick out the perfect pair of lace-only shoes, we would go home, and learn how to tie them.

Here is how it went–and here is how I will utilize this exciting experience with my students-TEACHING SUMMARY!  I utilize the summary strategy:

• Somebody
• Wanted
• But
• So
• Then

After my students are able to come up with the somebody, wanted, but, so, then-I have them take their organizer and turn it into paragraph form. The final summary paragraph should look something like this:

Brennan wanted new shoes with laces, but he had to learn how to tie them himself.  So he learned to tie them correctly.  Then he got to wear his new shoes.

I am a bit of a stickler on my students being able to summarize.  I am excited to share this exciting experience with them in order to teach, review, integrate this essential reading skill.  I always find that when I attach personal stories to my teaching, students remember so much better!  Connections are HUGE!

Here is an organizer that can be utilized with students for a summary mini-lesson…