A fast-paced, 20-minute cross-curricular lesson on writing summaries using the GIST method. Students learn to distill complex information into a concise 'highlight reel' of exactly 20 words.
Covers the climax and resolution, final character evolution, and a cumulative synthesis of the book's message.
Focuses on synthesizing themes of resilience and fragility as the community reacts to Winslow.
Explores Nora's character, Winslow's growth, and practices summarizing key plot events from the middle of the book.
Focuses on the introduction of Winslow and Louie, establishing the setting, and initial character analysis of Louie's motivations.
Students read the final story 'Concrete Gardens' and complete a final performance task that requires summarizing, character analysis, and theme synthesis.
Students read 'The Subway Song' and practice synthesizing information by comparing the themes and settings of the stories read so far.
Students read 'The Midnight Mural' and focus on inferring character traits and providing specific text evidence to support their claims.
Students read 'The Empty Bench' and focus on building vocabulary through context clues and mastering the 'Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then' summary framework.
Students synthesize information from multiple texts to create a comprehensive comparison and write a final evidentiary paragraph.