Somebody Wanted But So Then Chart (4-Chart Set, PDF)

About this resource

What's inside this resource

A five-step Somebody/Wanted/But/So/Then framework walks students through identifying a story's main character, goal, problem, attempted solution, and ending, and it appears twice — once fully worded as a teacher or display copy, and once with key words blanked out for students to fill in themselves. A second, matching chart titled ‘Summarizing’ explains that a summary retells a story's main events and lists the five elements to include (characters, setting, problem, events, solution) using the same SWBST acronym, again in both a complete and a fill-in-the-blank version. Together the four pages form a two-part anchor chart set meant to be posted for reference and then reinforced through an interactive-notebook-style blank version students complete in their own notes. Each chart page is marked with the code ‘RL 1,2,3,’ tying the content to a specific set of reading-literature standards printed directly on the page.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Students identify a story's main character, goal, central problem, attempted solution, and ending using the SWBST framework.
Students write a summary that includes character, setting, problem, events, and solution.
Students complete a blanked-out version of each chart from memory or class discussion, reinforcing the vocabulary introduced on the complete version.

Teaching tips

Post the complete anchor chart pages first, then hand out the blank versions for students to fill in during guided practice or in an interactive notebook.
Use the Summarizing chart's five elements (characters, setting, problem, events, solution) as a checklist students can apply to any story, not just one assigned text.
Pair the SWBST and Summarizing charts together, since the file presents them as a two-part set covering the same skill from two angles.

Skills covered

Story-element identification — students locate the character, goal, problem, solution, and ending of a narrative using the SWBST structure.
Summary writing — students retell a story's main events using the five elements named on the Summarizing chart.
Academic vocabulary — students learn and reuse the acronym SWBST and the term ‘summary’ across both chart pairs.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How do the two chart pairs in this set relate to each other?

The Somebody/Wanted/But/So/Then chart identifies a story's character, goal, problem, and ending, while the Summarizing chart reuses the same SWBST idea to explain how to turn those elements into a written summary — each pair has a complete version and a matching fill-in-the-blank version.

No reviews yet

Downloaded this resource? Tell other teachers how it went.

Curriculum

Standards, concepts & topics

Standards

CCSS.RL.1.2 — Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
CCSS.RL.1.3 — Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
CCSS.W.1.3 — Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

Core concepts

story elements
summarizing
narrative structure

Topics

reading printable reading chart reading poster strategies reading notebook someone wanted but so then somebody wanted but so then strategy

Explore related searches

More to explore

Somebody Wanted But So Then – 4-Chart Anchor Set

What's inside this resource