Unit Plan 33 (Grade 2 ELA): Summarizing & Retelling Key Ideas
Second graders learn to find a text’s main topic and key details, then create oral and visual summaries that show understanding. They listen, identify big ideas, and write 2–3 sentence summaries that clearly answer a question in their own words.
Focus: Main topic + key details; oral/visual summaries
Grade Level: 2
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Reading Informational • Speaking/Listening • Writing)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
This week readers learn to pull out the big idea (main topic) and just the important parts (key details) from informational texts. Students will practice oral retells and visual summaries (quick organizers/captions), then write short, clear summaries that answer a question using their own words.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Identify a text’s main topic and key details that support it (RI.2.2).
- Recount key ideas from a read-aloud or short presentation/video (SL.2.2).
- Use information from texts/experiences to write a short summary that answers a question (W.2.8).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 2
- RI.2.2, SL.2.2, W.2.8
Success Criteria — student language
- I can say the main topic in one clear sentence.
- I can name 3 key details that match the topic.
- I can retell two important ideas I heard/learned.
- I can write a 2–3 sentence summary in my own words that answers a question.