Boil It Down to Summarize

Analogies can boost engagement and understanding for many common tasks. One of my favorite analogies for summarizing is Boil It Down.
 





​How to:

1. Ask students if they have ever watched a parent or friend boil down a sauce or gravy on the stove. Discuss how the sauce simmers, steam rises reducing the liquid, and the sauce becomes thicker, more intense – leaving the essence of flavor.
2. Once students make this connection, compare boiling it down to summarizing – how we get rid of the excess and retain the essence.
3. Post or draw a saucepan picture on the board.
4. Ask a student to summarize the lesson (or book, video, etc.) and write their entire statement on the board in the pot.
5. Then provide each student with paper circles and ask them to write a word on the circle that is not necessary – that could evaporate.
6. Post the circles above the pan, crossing them out in the pan.
7. Continue until the words left in the pan represent the most important parts or the essence of the lesson. This becomes your summary statement.

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