Summarizing

After identifying the main/central idea of a text, students will be required to create a summary of the text. In younger grades, this may take the form of a retell. Graphic organizers or anchor charts that show students what is expected of them will help to guide them to understand what information to share and what can be left out.

Another tool that can be used, that provides visual supports is to use the Draw and Label Retelling (McLaughlin, 2010). The student answers four questions: Who? Where? What happened? And How did it end?. Then they draw what they “see” in their mind’s eye as having happened to go along with the question. Finally, they label the picture.

This routine is beneficial to students on the autism spectrum because it allows them to

express their understand visually, then guides them to put their thoughts into words.