SWBST STRATEGY TEMPLATE WITH SAMPLE SUMMARY

SWSBT, which stands for “Someone-Wanted-But-So-Then,” is a strategy used for summarizing information, particularly in the context of retelling stories or explaining historical events. It encourages concise summarization by structuring the summary into four key components: (1) Someone – Identifying the main character or key actor in the narrative, (2) Wanted – Describing what that character wanted or their goal, (3) But – Highlighting the obstacles or conflicts that the character encountered, and (4) So-Then – Explaining the resolution or outcome of the story. This strategy helps individuals distill complex narratives into a clear and succinct summary by focusing on the essential elements of the plot, making it a useful tool for improving comprehension and communication skills.

This resource explains this strategy, provides two templates which can be used for summarizing using this strategy, and an example using The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.