What does the S stand for in SWBST?
Answer: Somebody.
Lily chased a butterfly into the woods and got lost.
Which part of SWBST is this?
Answer: But — it is the problem that happened.
Story: A girl named Sofia was the smallest player on the team. She practiced every day and scored the winning goal.
Which is the best SWBST summary?
A. Sofia was small and played soccer and won.
B. Sofia was doubted because of her size but she practiced every day and scored the winning goal in the tournament.
Answer: B.
What does the W stand for in SWBST?
Answer: Wanted.
Marcus saved up for a video game for three months.
Which part of SWBST is this?
Answer: Somebody and Wanted — Marcus is the somebody and saving for the game is what he wanted.
Story: Noah wanted a treehouse but had to earn the money. He mowed lawns all summer and built it with his dad.
Which is the best SWBST summary?
A. Noah mowed lawns and built a treehouse with his dad at the end of summer.
B. Noah wanted a treehouse but had to earn the money himself so he mowed lawns all summer and he and his dad built it together.
Answer: B.
What does the B stand for in SWBST?
Answer: But.
Amara practiced her poem every night with her grandmother.
Which part of SWBST is this?
Answer: So — it is what she did to solve the problem.
Story: Caleb avoided studying and his mom helped him the night before the test.
What is missing from this summary to make it a complete SWBST summary?
Answer: It is missing the Then — what happened as a result. He passed the test with a B plus.
What does the first S and T stand for in SWBST?
Answer: So and Then.
Zoe fixed her cracked volcano with tape, paint, and a hair dryer in twenty minutes.
Which part of SWBST is this?
Answer: So — it is the action she took to solve her problem.
A good SWBST summary should be short. True or false — a summary should include every detail from the story?
Answer: False. A summary only includes the most important parts that answer each letter of SWBST.
Put all five letters of SWBST in order and explain what each one means in your own words.
Answer: Somebody is the main character. Wanted is their goal. But is the problem. So is what they did about it. Then is how it ended.
Elijah turned the wallet in to the store manager and the owner rewarded him with twenty dollars.
Which parts of SWBST are these two sentences?
Answer: So and Then — turning in the wallet is what he did and the reward is how it ended.
Write your own SWBST summary for this story in one sentence:
A boy named Theo felt lonely after his best friend moved away. His teacher paired him with Jordan for a project and by Friday they were best friends.
Answer: Theo felt lonely after his best friend moved away but his teacher paired him with Jordan for a project and by Friday they were best friends.