Summarizing with the S.W.B.S.T. Method
Helping students summarize can be a challenge, but the S.W.B.S.T. (Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then) method is an easy-to-use strategy that breaks down the process of summarizing. It puts this skill into manageable steps for students. I love teaching with this method, because it allows students to focus on the key elements, or most important parts of a fiction text. In this post, I’ll share tips and strategies on how to teach summarizing with the S.W.B.S.T. method.
What is the S.W.B.S.T. method?
If you aren’t already familiar, S.W.B.S.T. stands for the following:
Somebody: Who is the main character?
Wanted: What did the main character want?
But: What was the problem the main character faced?
So: What did the character do about the problem?
Then: How does the story end?
S.W.B.S.T. is a strategy that really helps students skip the extra details in a text when writing their summaries. It allows them to focus more on the main details in the story.
Summarizing with the S.W.B.S.T. Method Using Anchor Charts
I love using anchor charts to walk students through each part of the S.W.B.S.T. process. Here’s how I like use them:
- Use an anchor chart to introduce S.W.B.S.T:Begin by introducing each step of the S.W.B.S.T. method. Explain to students what each step means and how it helps to create a summary. I like to use a read aloud we’ve already read to model how to use S.W.B.S.T..
- Practice Together: As a class, we’ll read a short passage and go through each step of S.W.B.S.T. together. Here, I’ll model for students how to fill out a S.W.B.S.T. graphic organizer using the text we read.
3. Independent Practice: After students have had some time to become familiar with the method, I let the try it on their own using a new passage. I’ll give them the same graphic organizer. I’ll also keep the anchor charts up for students to reference for quite some time.
Why Summarizing With the S.W.B.S.T. Method Works
I love this method for summarizing because of how it simplifies it. I feel like having students use S.W.B.S.T. to summarize their stories, makes summarizing much less overwhelming for students. Here are a few reasons why S.W.B.S.T. is so effective to use with students:
- It gives students a clear focus. This method guides students through thinking about just the key elements of a story so they aren’t distracted by the extra details included.
- S.W.B.S.T. takes students through a step-by-step process. The setup helps students understand how they must organize their thoughts. It gives them a “path” for summarizing.
- It works with any story. I especially love how flexible this summarizing technique is. It can be used with almost any fiction text!
By focusing on the S.W.B.S.T. method, your students will gain more and more confidence with summarizing. Eventually it will become like a second nature for them to use the strategy when they must summarize a fiction text.
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