Charlotte's Web Summary Activity

Activity Overview

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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Template and Class Instructions

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Student Instructions

Make a storyboard summary of Charlotte's Web.

Make pictures that show two main events from the beginning of the story.
Make pictures that show two main events from the middle of the story.
Make pictures that show two main events from the end of the story.
Write a sentence under each picture.

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Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 2-3

Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)

Type of Assignment Individual or Partner

Type of Activity: Parts of a Story

Common Core Standards

[ELA-Literacy/RL/3/2] Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
[ELA-Literacy/RL/3/5] Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.

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Rubric

(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)

Sequence of Events Rubric

Create a storyboard that shows a sequence of events. Below each cell, type in a description about the importance of that part of the story.

	Proficient	Emerging	Beginning
Events	Each of the cells represents a different part of the story. The cells are in order from beginning to end.	One cell is out of order, or the storyboard is missing important information.	Important information is missing and/or two or more cells are out of order.
Images	Cells include images that accurately show events in the story and do not get in the way of understanding.	Most images show the events of the story, but some are incorrect.	The images are unclear or do not make sense with the story.
Descriptions	Descriptions match the images and show the change over time.	Descriptions do not always match the images or mention the importance of the event.	Descriptions are missing or do not match the images.
Spelling and Grammar	Spelling and grammar is mostly accurate. Mistakes do not get in the way of understanding.	Spelling is very inaccurate and hinders full understanding.	Text is very difficult to understand.