A Florida FAST 3rd grade reading practice test workbook for teachers, with a pretest, skill practice for all 13 benchmarks, mixed review and 2 full-length practice tests. Answer key included, so test prep is ready to go.
This note taking worksheet has 3rd Grade students read a short article about lighthouses, finish five notes in a chart, and choose the best summary. An answer key is included.
This story map worksheet lets 3rd grade students record the characters, setting, problem, main events, and solution of any story they read, building stronger comprehension and retelling skills.
A Beginning, Middle, End Worksheet that helps 3rd graders retell one short story in three parts and write a clear summary of each. Includes a complete answer key for quick, no-prep reading practice.
Read, retell and find the moral with this fables and folktales activity for 2nd and 3rd grade: story cards, moral cards, talk cards and a Story Map, with an answer key included.
A NJSLA-A 3rd grade ELA practice test workbook for teachers, with a pretest, skill practice for all 19 standards, mixed review and 2 full-length practice tests. Answer key included, so test prep is ready to go.
This Narrative Pyramid Worksheet prints an original story for 3rd graders, then asks them to summarize it row by row, from one word up to six. An answer key is included, so it works as a quick reading check or a pre-writing plan.
This in your own words paraphrase activity has 3rd to 5th grade students match texts to paraphrase cards and write their own. A practice page and an answer key are included.
This what's the moral of the story activity helps 2nd and 3rd graders read short fables, retell them, and match each one to its lesson. Answer key included for quick checking.
This class critics summarizing activity gives 3rd to 5th grade students seven organizers to summarize books, videos, and articles. Answer key included for the model and practice.
This retelling using key details activity helps kindergarten to 3rd grade students sort key events, put them in order, and retell a story, with an answer key included.
This Note Taking and Summarizing Graphic Organizer Worksheet gives 3rd Grade students one page for notes, a drawing of the big idea, and a short summary of any book or article they read.
An OST 3rd grade ELA practice test workbook for teachers, with a pretest, skill practice for all 20 standards, mixed review and 2 full-length practice tests. Answer key included, so test prep is ready to go.
An IAR 3rd grade ELA practice test workbook for teachers, with a pretest, skill practice for all 19 standards, mixed review and 2 full-length practice tests. Answer key included, so test prep is ready to go.
Use this insect beginning, middle, end worksheet to help 3rd graders summarize a short bug hotel story in three parts. An answer key is included, so checking work is quick and easy.
This digging for information text structure activity has 3rd-5th Grade students name the structure of short texts and find signal words, using self-checking cards. Answer key included.
A CMAS 3rd grade ELA practice test workbook for teachers, with a pretest, skill practice for all 19 standards, mixed review and 2 full-length practice tests. Answer key included, so test prep is ready to go.
This what comes next sequencing activity has 2nd to 4th grade students read a how-to recipe, put six step cards in order and retell each step. Answer key included.
This Now Presenting! Report on a Topic activity helps 3rd to 5th Grade students plan and give organized talks with movie ticket prompts and a planner. Answer key included.
In this two texts important information activity, 1st-3rd Grade students read two pumpkin texts and sort 12 fact cards by source. A practice page and answer key are included.
Short, sweet and still complete
Third graders learn that a summary tells the most important parts of a text in a few sentences, in their own words. For stories, that means the main character, the problem, the key events and how it was solved, plus the lesson in fables and folktales. For nonfiction, it means the main idea and the details that support it. Kids practice leaving out small details and their own opinions, which is harder than it sounds! A handy frame is Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then. The click moment is when a child sums up a whole chapter in three sentences and nothing important is missing.
Summarizing is a skill kids use in every subject. These moves get them from retelling everything to telling what matters.
Before writing a summary, kids fill in a story map: characters, setting, problem, events and solution. The map becomes the summary. Seeing the parts laid out keeps kids from listing every single detail.
Why it works: pairing a picture with each word gives kids two ways to remember it, a well-tested principle of how people learn (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withStory Map WorksheetGraphic OrganizersOpen it →Model the frame with a fairy tale everyone knows: Goldilocks wanted to rest, but the bears came home, so she ran away. Then kids try it with today's read-aloud and compare their versions.
Why it works: handing over the work step by step, from teacher to student, is one of the most widely used teaching frameworks (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).
Try it withFables and Folktales ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Read a short paragraph, then have kids flip it over and write one sentence in their own words. Paraphrasing a paragraph at a time is the building block of summarizing a whole text.
Why it works: pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than rereading it, one of the strongest findings in learning research (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Try it withIn Your Own Words Paraphrase ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Summaries are more fun with a challenge. Try these.
ActivitiesKids summarize a book or show in a few sentences and give it a star rating, just like real reviewers.
Open Class Critics Summarizing Activity →
WorksheetsBuild a word pyramid: one word for the character, two for the setting, three for the problem and so on.
Open Narrative Pyramid Worksheet →
Graphic OrganizersCan you summarize the story in exactly 20 words? Partners count and compare.
Open Beginning, Middle, End Worksheet →Teacher favorites right now: Florida FAST 3rd Grade Reading Practice Test Workbook, Note Taking Worksheet and Story Map Worksheet.
Summarizing means telling the most important parts of a text in a few sentences using your own words. It skips small details and opinions.
Retelling covers what happened in order with lots of detail. Summarizing is shorter and keeps only the most important ideas.
Try Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then. Who is the character, what did they want, what went wrong, what did they do and how did it end?
Usually three to five sentences for a story or a short article. If it is as long as the original, it is a retell.
Find the main idea, then pick two or three details that support it. Headings and bold words are great clues.
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