Pattan’s Pumpkin Visual Summary

Learning to summarize a story is a skill students will use throughout their life. Starting with the Beginning, Middle, and End, students will learn to identify important scenes in stories in a way that creates an easy to understand summary. In this activity, students will create a 3 cell storyboard that summarizes the beginning, middle, and end of Pattan’s Pumpkin.

Pattan’s Pumpkin Summary Example

Beginning: There once lived a man named Pattan, who lived in the Sahyadri mountains with his wife Kanni. Pattan found a plant with beautiful flowers that looked like it needed some care, and he planted it near their hut. The plant thrived and soon it grew into an enormous pumpkin.

Middle: One day the sky turned dark and the rain began to fall heavily. Pattan knew that they had to leave the mountains, for there was sure to be a dangerous flood from all of the rain. The next morning, Pattan got to work hollowing out the giant pumpkin, which had grown as tall as the mountain. He climbed the mountain, cut open the top, and began digging. With the animals jumping in to help, the great pumpkin was finally ready and big enough for everyone to fit inside.

End: Pattan helped everyone, including all of the animals, into the pumpkin, and when it was time to go, he cut it free and off they rolled down the mountain and into the river. Many days and nights passed, until finally they reached the plains. When the rain stopped, they all returned to the valley. They built a new home by the river and Pattan planted the single pumpkin seed that he had saved. Pattan and Kanni had many children, who grew up and lived alongside them in their own homes in the foothills of the mountains.