Tools for approaching the Summa Theologica

Based on what people say, the following seems to be a good way to approach Aquinas' Summa Theologica:

Step 1: Adler's Aristotle for Everybody
Step 2: Kreeft's Shorter Summa (5% of the Summa Theologica, with footnotes)
Step 3: Kreeft's Summa of the Summa (18% of the Summa Theologica, with footnotes)
Step 4: Summa Theologica (all 3011 pages of it!)

I am currently in the middle of Step 1.