Summarizing

Summarizing

​Why do we summarize?

​To tell someone the gist of a story or about the main idea.

​A summary should include

​Somebody... Who is the main character or characters

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What happened? Was there a problem? How would you explain this to a friend?

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Multiple Choice

What is a summary?

• a short explanation of a text

• an argument about a text

• a movie based off of a book

• a theme or universal lesson

Multiple Choice

When would you most likely summarize a book?

• when you want to forget a book you’ve read

• when you want to tell a friend your opinion of a book but not what it was about

• when you want to tell a friend the gist or main ideas of a book

• when you don’t understand a vocabulary word you read in a book

Multiple Choice

A summary should

• answer the 5 W’s: who, what, when, where and why.

• describe the details but not the main ideas.

• never mention the plot of the text.

• always mention the age of the author.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following questions should you definitely answer in a summary of the novel My Funny Friend Fiona?

• What’s Fiona’s neighbor’s favorite color?

• What happens to Fiona?

• Is My Funny Friend Fiona a boring book?

• How long did it take you to read My Funny Friend Fiona?

Multiple Choice

What detail should be cut from the following summary?

My Funny Friend Fiona is a novel about a girl named Fiona. It’s really quick to read, and you should read it because it’s the funniest book in the world.

• the name of the main character

• the title of the book

• the fact that the book is a novel

• the opinion that it's the "funniest book in the world"

Multiple Choice

You should write your summary

• in your own words with complete sentences.

• in a secret language that you make up.

• by copying down the entire story that you just read.

• in fragments without punctuation.

Multiple Choice

What can you summarize?

• only novels

• only nonfiction

• only movies

• anything you read or watch

Multiple Choice

The article “The Three Men Who Invented the Telephone” is about three different men who contributed to the invention of the telephone. Which of the following should you include in a summary of this article?

• details about how smartphones and cell phones work

• a detail about where the phrase “put someone on hold” came from

• a brief explanation of how each man was involved in the invention of the telephone

• your opinion about who really invented the telephone