A text squeeze or paragraph shrink is a great way to practice for standardized tests and improve reading comprehension skills. A fun way to use a text squeeze is to turn it into a game. I borrowed this idea from our assistant principal and used it 10 school days in a row after that. For example videos of this game and ACT prep ideas, scroll over to the section "ACT Prep."
Text Squeeze Game
1. select a jury and some contestants
2. hand out the text the contestants will summarize
3. hand out index cards or post-it notes for the contestants to write their summaries on (summaries are 15 words or less)
4. set a timer and say GO!
5. Contestants have a short time to summarize the text and write it on the index card. They will not write their names on the card.
6. the teacher takes up the cards, jumbles them up and hands them to the jury
7. the jury reads aloud the winning summary
8. the teacher may or may not give the winner a piece of candy or homework credit
Text Squeeze Game
1. select a jury and some contestants
2. hand out the text the contestants will summarize
3. hand out index cards or post-it notes for the contestants to write their summaries on (summaries are 15 words or less)
4. set a timer and say GO!
5. Contestants have a short time to summarize the text and write it on the index card. They will not write their names on the card.
6. the teacher takes up the cards, jumbles them up and hands them to the jury
7. the jury reads aloud the winning summary
8. the teacher may or may not give the winner a piece of candy or homework credit