If you are reading a novel in your world language class, this activity is a great way to make sure students take away the most important events. Similar to a Yellow Summary, where students highlight the most important, this activity is more hands-on. It also provides even more input of extra reps as students are re-reading certain phrases to

determine what category to put them in. Take a chapter from a book and pick out certain phrases. They do not have to be exact, for example, you may choose to rewrite them in the past tense or from a different perspective (1st person as opposed to 3rd). Choose events that are important to the overall story. Then choose sentences that are just small details.

You can type these up and have students cut them out and then sort into the two groups. Or you can post them as a class and go over them orally and have a discussion.  As students are focused on completing the task, they do not realize they are receiving additional input. They also have to be able to understand the sentence as well as its context in the story.

I’ve also posted the statements and call on a student to state if it is important or just a detail. Then I ask other students if they agree.
Teacher: Jessica, ¿es un evento importante o es un detalle”
Jessica: Es un detalle.
Teacher: Marco, ¿estás de acuerdo? ¿O crees que es importante?
Marco: Es importante.
Teacher: Steve, ¿estás de acuerdo con Jessica o con Marco?
Steve: Con Jessica.
Teacher: Ah. Tú crees que es un detalle.
Steve: Sí.
Teacher: Clase, Steve y Jessican creen que es un detalle.