Get+The+G.I.S.T

**Get The GIST**

**Content** Reading Comprehension and Main Idea This strategy can be used for students to practice pulling the main idea out of a given text. This strategy also allows students to summarize a text using only the most important information.

**Grade Level** With proper grade level-appropriate modifications, this strategy can be used for students in grades 3-12. In order to modify for different grade levels, the teacher can increase or decrease the total amount of words used for the written summaries.

**Curriculum Standards** **For eighth grade students, this strategy uses the following CSO's:**
 * **RLA.O.8.1.5--**Use pre-reading and comprehension strategies (e.g., generating questions and previewing, activating and evaluating prior knowledge and scanning or skimming texts) to critically analyze and evaluate the composition of literary and informational tests for making judgments, hypothesizing, making complex or abstract summaries
 * **RLA.O.8.1.6--**Determine and interpret the elements of literature to construct meaning and recognize author's purpose and/or reader's purpose: theme, character, setting, internal conflict, rising and falling action, point of view, antagonist, protagonist, hero
 * **RLA.O.8.1.15--**Increase amount of independent reading and select appropriate graphic organizers (e.g., diagrams, flow charts, story maps, outlines, concept maps, tables, reading guides) to analyze relationships among more complex ideas generated while reading

**Description of Practices** This comprehension/main-idea strategy allows students to recognize and summarize the most important ideas from each section of a written text.

The steps for implementing this strategy with Elementary students are:
 * 1) Introduce a text to the students through a read-aloud, partner reading, or independent reading.
 * 2) Break the text up into different sections (this will vary depending on both length of the text and ability of your students).
 * 3) For each section of text, instruct the students to form a "Gist" statement or find the most important WHO or WHAT and the most important THING about the WHO or WHAT in the section. Before allowing the students to complete this task, the teacher assigns a maximum number of words that the students can use to "Get the Gist" of each section. For example, the Gist statement for each section may only be summarized using a maximum of 10 words. This forces students to pick out only the **most** **important** parts of each section.

The steps for implementing this strategy with Middle/High School students are:
 * 1) Introduce a text to the students through a read-aloud, partner reading, or independent reading.
 * 2) Break the text up into different sections (this will vary depending on both length of the text and ability of your students).
 * 3) For each section of the text, instruct the students to determine the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY. Once found, the students would then form a GIST statement using a maximum number of words (for example: in 20 words or less). This again forces students to pick out only the most important information from each section.
 * 4) Once the entire text and all GIST statements have been completed, have students use all of their Gist statements from each section in order to write a summary of the completed text.

**Implementation Considerations** This strategy can be used in a self-contained setting where the teacher works one-on-one with the student in order to complete the strategy. Here the teacher could help the student to identify the most important aspects of the text (most misconceptions occur when trying to determine the main idea of the text) through discussions. This strategy could also be completed with students working in pairs. The students could take turns reading the given text and discuss the main ideas. After, the students could either agree on one GIST statement for the pair or they could write their own GIST statement independently after peer discussion. I feel that allowing the students to work in pairs for the first few sections of the text would be most beneficial for students because it allows them to gain another perspective on the read text. Another way to implement this strategy is by having the students could work independently to read and create their own GIST statements for the given text. Finally, this strategy could be implemented and completed as a whole class. To read the text, the students could participate in popcorn reading or the teacher can perform a read-aloud. Following, the students could work together to form a GIST statement through discussion.

**Example** **Citation** This information was found at: http://fcit.usf.edu/fcat8r/home/references/additional-reading-strategies/gist-strategy.html Source: Schuder, T., Clewell, S., & Jackson, N. (1989). //Getting the gist of expository text//. Delaware: International Reading Association.
 * The example below is a template that can be used with older students when using the strategy Get the GIST. **http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson290/Template.pdf**
 * The following example is showing how to implement Get The GIST with younger elementary students (2nd or 3rd grade). Within this video, the teacher describes the steps needed to implement this strategy, models the strategy a few times using a read-aloud, and gives helpful tips to remember when pulling the main idea out of a text.
 * **http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNXqMykTbCY**