Story Summarization
Summarize a story in 2-3 sentences capturing the main idea and resolution.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Use the somebody-wanted-but-so-then frame first. It supplies the shape of a summary — character, goal, obstacle, action, outcome — and turns a vague instruction into five slots to fill. Then tighten: three sentences, then two, then ten words. The squeezing is where the student has to decide what matters, which is the actual skill. Ten minutes covers a story summarised twice at different lengths.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- Question promptAsk a story-grammar question: who, where, what was the problem, what happened next?Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two possible next parts of the story and let the student pick and say it.Log as cued
- ModelTell that part yourself; the student tells it back in their own words.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer parts, and keep a first-next-last visual on the table.
Ask for the retell without the pictures, with a feeling or a reason added to each part.
Matching IEP goal
Given a picture or story prompt, Student will state the main idea and two supporting details in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than one question prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Ten summarising prompts of increasing difficulty: summarise the story you just read in two or three sentences; summarise your favourite film; summarise The Three Little Pigs in two sentences; somebody… wanted… but… so… then; give a ten-word summary; summarise the last chapter in one sentence. The frames and word limits are the design — an unconstrained summary is usually a retell.
What to listen for
Listen for a retell in place of a summary. A student who begins at the beginning and includes everything has not summarised, and a word limit exposes that faster than any explanation. Watch which element survives the squeeze — students usually keep the events and lose the goal, and the goal is what makes a summary make sense.
Carrying it home
Asking what a film or a book was about, in two sentences, is a normal question. Holding the child to two rather than accepting a full retell is the only extra step.
What's in this activity
- Summarize the story you just read in 2-3 sentences.
- Summarize your favorite movie in 2-3 sentences.
- Summarize what happened at recess today in 2-3 sentences.
- Summarize a book you've read in 2-3 sentences.
- Summarize The Three Little Pigs in 2 sentences.
- Somebody… wanted… but… so… then… — use it for the story you just heard.
- Summarize a TV episode without telling every detail.
- Summarize your weekend in 3 sentences.
- Give a 10-word summary of the story.
- Summarize the last chapter in one sentence.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, matched to summarising expectations in reading.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all ten prompts play with no account.
- My student retells instead of summarising. What now?
- Impose a limit. Two sentences, or ten words, makes retelling impossible and forces the decision about what matters — which is what summarising actually is.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.