GIST Summaries

I just learned something new at our inservice about using a GIST template, which means Generating Interaction between Schemata and Text. Step 1-Select content-related articles for students to read, allow them to work in pairs. Step 2-Students read the article and identify the 5 W's and an H on the GIST template. Step 3-Using the 5 W's and an H as a reference, students write 20-word summaries (GIST's) Step 4- Once the students have mastered writing a GIST using articles, the strategy is then applied to content area texts to support comprehension and summarizing skills. The 5 W's are Who: What: Where: When: Why: and 1 H is How:

Who: is the primary characters? who participated? who is affected?
What: is the topic of the lesson? its significiance? is the problem? are the issues? happened?
Where: did the event occur? is the setting? is the source of the problem?
When: did the event occur? did the problem begin? is it most important?
Why: did the event, issue, or problem occur? did it develop the way it did?
How: is the lesson, problem, or issue important? can the problem be resolved? does it affect the participants or characters identified in the Who question?

This can be used for any type of reading assignment it helps writers organize their stories or summaries.