In Grades 2-4, students are beginning to transition from retelling a book orally, to summarizing lengthier texts both orally, and in writing. This skill can be challenging with chapter books because students have to synthesize many details, and think critically about importance of events. A storyboard provides students with a way to organize their thinking and improve their summarizing skills.
Consider having students plan their story board using a blank template prior to creating the full storyboard online. Students should begin with the narrative in each box, before adding character dialogue. This will allow them to focus on summarizing and determining importance, before getting distracted by the details of the storyboard. Students can also be given a set number of frames to use for the storyboard, to help them be concise. After planning on a template, students can compare the important events they chose with a partner, and the class could discuss why different events in the story were included in the storyboard over others.
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Student Instructions
Make a storyboard summary of Charlotte's Web.
Begin by explaining the purpose of creating a plot diagram for stories. Teachers can use simple words like “important parts of the story” rather than using “plot diagram”. Teach the purpose of summarizing important parts of the story so students can understand what is expected of them.
Teachers can select an easy short story similar to Charlotte’s Web and apply the process first to that story to teach the students. For better understanding first explain the concept of beginning, middle, and end of the story and use visual elements to separate these stages for the students. Teachers can also explain event by event and utilize sequencing.
Ask the students to identify which section of the plot diagram each significant plot point corresponds to when you pause at each one while reading the narrative. Take a moment to question, "What part of the plot diagram is this?" while presenting the key characters and the environment, for instance. Label it on the diagram after that.
Ask the students to explain the narrative using the finished plot diagram when it has concluded. Their comprehension of the plot's organization is strengthened by this. Teachers can also give sample texts to practice summarization.
Review plot diagrams for various stories frequently to help students retain what they have learned. As students gain confidence with the idea, gradually add stories and story structures that are more complicated.
The "exposition" refers to the story's opening. We get to know the primary characters of the story there and discover more about the setting and the mood, which in the case of Charlotte’s Web is a farm and the main characters are Wilbur the pig, Charlotte the spider, and Fern the human who wants to save Wilbur from his tragic fate.
The "resolution" refers to the conclusion of the narrative. We learn what happens to the characters and how their issues are resolved in this chapter. In "Charlotte's Web," Wilbur finds some new acquaintances and we learn about the newborn spiders. At this point in the story, all the conflicts are either resolved or given a closure.
Wilbur gains self-assurance and discovers the meaning of friendship and compassion as the narrative progresses. Charlotte, while being rather little, exemplifies how much one can do to support a friend.