These are the four characters that we met today during reading. Most importantly, these characters represent the four different types of summaries. When writing and/or picking out summaries that the "test gods" create and assess, it is important to know that there is a specific kind of summary they are looking for. Enter today's lesson: How to PICK a good summary.
*Note: These pictures are from last school year - I forgot to get pictures of our "characters" this year, but the costumes/props were the same.
Poor Granny, she means well, but she writes such LONG Summaries that she cannot even stay awake during them. She tells EVERYTHING about the story, going into great detail about the beginning, middle, and end. Listening to her is like rereading the entire book.
The TOTAL opposite of Granny, Shorty's retelling of a story leaves out EVERYTHING! They are too short, too vague, and really don't tell you anything. The important plot points are missing and you are left having no clue what the story was about.
Being a fun loving cheerleader, Sally is very talkative, friendly, and a bit boy crazy. She like, LOVES telling stories, but they aren't like exactly always on track. She often gets like off topic while telling her stories and tends to like exaggerate a lot. Her connections to what she has read are often shallow and don't like really connect with what the author was trying to tell her.
Like all good detectives, Dan always asks the right questions, such as, WHO was involved? WHAT was the problem? WHERE and WHEN did the event take place? WHY did the character do what they did? WHAT is the author trying to tell the reader? HOW did you feel about the story?
Dan, as you can see, is the correct summary - it answers all the important questions, shares important details, but does not go into great depth.