Kid-Friendly Guide: Retelling, Summarizing, Paraphrasing, Making and Confirming Predictions, and Synthesizing

Sure, here's a kid-friendly guide to retelling, summarizing, paraphrasing, making and confirming predictions, and synthesizing with academic examples:

Retelling: 

Retelling is when you tell a story or describe an event in your own words. It's important to remember the main parts of the story and to use your own words to retell it. For example, if you were retelling the story of "The Three Little Pigs," you might say:

"Once upon a time, there were three little pigs who each built their own house. The first pig made his house out of straw, the second pig made his house out of sticks, and the third pig made his house out of bricks. Then, the big bad wolf came and blew down the first two houses, but he couldn't blow down the third house made of bricks, and the three little pigs lived happily ever after.

Summarizing:

 Summarizing is when you take the most important information from a text or story and put it into your own words. It's important to only include the most important information and to leave out any unnecessary details. For example, if you were summarizing the story of "Little Red Riding Hood," you might say:

"Little Red Riding Hood is on her way to visit her grandmother when she meets a wolf. The wolf tricks her into telling him where she is going, then goes to her grandmother's house, eats her, and pretends to be her. When Little Red Riding Hood arrives, she doesn't recognize the wolf and is eaten too. Luckily, a hunter comes and saves them both.

Paraphrasing: 

Paraphrasing is when you take a sentence or idea from a text or story and put it into your own words, without changing the meaning. It's important to use your own words and not just copy the original text. For example, if the original text said:

"The cat in the hat is a mischievous character who causes chaos wherever he goes."

You could paraphrase it as:

"The cat in the hat is a character who loves to play tricks and make things crazy wherever he goes."

Making and confirming predictions:

Making predictions is when you use clues from a text or story to guess what might happen next. 

Confirming predictions is when you check to see if your prediction was correct. For example, if you were reading a story about a lost dog, you might make a prediction that:

"The main character will find the lost dog at the animal shelter."

Later in the story, you might confirm your prediction when the main character goes to the animal shelter and finds the lost dog there.

Synthesizing: 

Synthesizing is when you take information from multiple sources and combine it to create a new understanding or idea. It's important to make connections between the different sources and to create something new from them. For example, if you were writing a research paper about penguins, you might synthesize information from multiple sources to create a new understanding of penguins, such as:

"Penguins are fascinating animals that are adapted to live in extreme environments. They have unique physical adaptations, such as their waterproof feathers and their ability to huddle together for warmth. They also have interesting social behaviors, such as their monogamous mating habits and their communal parenting strategies."


Here are a few more examples:

Making and Confirming Predictions: 

Making predictions means making a guess about what will happen next in a story or what the answer might be to a question.

Confirming predictions means checking to see if your guess was correct. Here is an example:

Story: Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. She went for a walk in the forest and came across a house.

Making Prediction: What do you think Goldilocks will do when she sees the house?

Answer: She might knock on the door or try to see if anyone is inside.

Confirming Prediction: Did Goldilocks knock on the door or try to see if anyone was inside?

Answer: Yes, she did.

Synthesizing: 

Synthesizing means putting together different ideas or information to create a new understanding or meaning. Here is an example:

Topic: Animals

Information:

• Dogs are loyal and friendly pets.
• Cats are independent and like to be alone.
• Fish need water to breathe and live.
• Birds have feathers and can fly.

Synthesizing: 

What is one thing all of these animals have in common?

Answer: They are all different types of animals, but they all have unique characteristics and behaviors that make them interesting and special.