Unit Plan 33 (Grade K ELA): Summarizing & Retelling Key Ideas
Kindergarten informational text unit: students identify the main topic and key details of nonfiction texts, create oral and visual summaries using pictures and labels, and practice clear retelling and questioning to confirm understanding.
Focus: Main topic + key details; oral/visual summaries
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Informational Text • Speaking/Listening • Writing)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students learn to name the main topic of an informational text and select key details that support it. Through shared reading, sorting pictures/words, and kid-friendly oral and visual summaries, children practice saying what a page/book is mostly about and how to tell it back clearly.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Identify the main topic of a page or short text and select 2–3 key details that support it (RI.K.2).
- Ask and answer questions about information presented in pictures/words and confirm understanding of an oral summary (SL.K.2).
- Recall information from a read-aloud or class experience to make a short visual and/or dictated summary (W.K.8).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Kindergarten
- RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
- SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions.
- W.K.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
Success Criteria — student language
- I can tell the main topic in one sentence.
- I can name 2–3 key details that match the topic.
- I can make a quick picture/label summary and tell it back.
- I can ask or answer a question to check understanding.