446: Try My Green Smoothie Approach to Summary Practice

Reading comprehension questions and summaries are no one's idea of big fun. They often feel like a game for a grade, and they don't inspire much engagement. And yet, we do want kids to be able to look back on their reading and remember what happened. Cleary, being able to pull together a quick mental summary of a text is a useful skill for argument, conversation, research analysis, debate, and more. So how do we help kids grow the ability to look back over a text and pull what's vital without relying on questions that feel like busywork?

For the answer, I'm turning to my favorite smoothie. I start by blending spinach and orange juice. The juice quickly turns a beautiful bright green. Then I add a half banana and a lot of frozen pineapple and mango. Once I blend it, no one can taste the spinach at all. It's a family favorite.

So how do we turn summary skills into a green smoothie? That's what we're talking about on the podcast with today's quick tip.

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