GIST: A Reading Comprehension Strategy

If you’re a teacher, you’re well aware of the struggles some students face when it comes to reading comprehension. GIST is an effective strategy designed to help readers improve comprehension and retention of complex texts. In this post, I’ll explore the history of the strategy, how to use it, why it’s effective, and ideas for the classroom.

What is the GIST strategy?

GIST is a reading comprehension strategy designed to help students identify the most important information and write a brief summary for an entire text or a section of text using 15 words or less. The goal of a GIST summary is for students to convey the “GIST” of what they read without the extraneous details.

What does GIST mean?

GIST stands for Generating Interactions between Schemata and Text. The strategy was developed in 1982 by James Cunningham, PhD, professor emeritus of literacy studies at the University of North Carolina. The GIST strategy requires students to write accurate summaries using 15 words or less. As Cunningham describes it, GIST is conducted first as a whole class, then in small groups, and finally individually.

How do students write a GIST summary?

It is important to support students in writing GIST summaries until they can do them independently. To scaffold instruction, start with short texts, sections, or paragraphs.

Read a short text or a section of text.
Identify the who, what, when, where, why, & how (where applicable).
Use the 5Ws to write a summary of the text in 15 words or less.

Example from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (entire text)

Who: Anne Frank
What: hid
When: during WWII
Where: in an attic in Amsterdam
Why: to avoid being captured
How: by the Nazis

Summary: Anne Frank hid during WWII in an attic in Amsterdam to avoid being captured by the Nazis.

Why is the GIST strategy effective?

The GIST strategy improves comprehension and retention because it requires readers to connect new information to prior knowledge. To do this, readers focus on the most important information in a text and then use their own words to write a summary.

When students use the GIST strategy, they learn how to…

identify the main ideas and key details
synthesize information
use concise language
write effective summaries

Get started with GIST using this printable graphic organizer! Click the link below to download it for FREE today!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE GIST SUMMARY PDF

Here are some unique ways to use the GIST strategy in your classroom:

bell ringers
current events
reading logs
chapter/section assessments
review activities
stations/centers
exit tickets

Ultimately, we want our students to be confident and proficient readers. The GIST strategy will provide them with the skills to do just that! Click here for additional reading comprehension strategies that are suitable for all levels of readers!

Support your reading comprehension strategies with graphic organizers! Support reading comprehension with graphic organizers! Get 20 printable, editable, and digital graphic organizers for all text types.

Editable Graphic Organizers for Reading Comprehension

“I love this resource. I am a first year teacher, and these graphic organizers have been a life saver. I like that I can use them for different novels.” -Stephanie M.