If you are looking to add some high-interest activities to your summarizing lessons, try using animated shorts to teach reading skills. This post contains the animated short “Peck Pocketed” found on YouTube and inserted in this post. You can also download a handout containing a graphic organizer to help students write a “Somebody Wanted But So” statement.
Using Peck Pocketed to Teach Summarizing [2:19]
A bird sees a luxury home in a magazine. He dreams of having a home just like the one in the photo. The bird begins to steal items from a lady who is napping on a park bench to decorate his home.
In the accompanying handout, students write a “Somebody, Wanted, But So” statement to summarize the film. You can get the handout by clicking on the button.
What people are saying about the full unit…
Right after quarterly testing, I had this assignment for students to access on their own. Students completed the questions as they watched the videos. After testing was done, and after a small break, students were able to discuss the first two questions as a class. I then allowed students to finish. Those that were done, created additional questions for classmates to answer. Fantastic Lessons! Very organized files. Very easy to locate videos.
The handout includes the following questions:
Write a “Somebody Wanted But So Statement.”
The bird wanted to have a luxury bird’s nest, but he didn’t have the items he had seen in the magazine, so he stole items from a lady who was napping on a park bench under his tree to make his home more luxurious.
The lady on the park bench wanted the bird to pay for taking her elastic lace, but she didn’t want to hurt the bird, so she uses the elastic lace like a slingshot and sends the bird flying across the park. Ironically, the bird lands on a billboard feathering a luxury room.
More Samples from the Teaching Reading with Animated Shorts Series
- Main Idea and Details
- Point of View and Perspective
- Characters and Setting
- Cause and Effect
- Compare and Contrast
- Problems and Solution
- Christmas Shorts
- Mood and Tone with Christmas Shorts
Check out all six products in the Reading and Writing Series. Units are also available as bundles.