Informational Summaries

Informational summary writing

How to write a summary for an informational text

Poll

How much do you know about writing a summary for an informational text?

• I am an expert. I could write one right now.

• I know a little bit. I could probably write part of a summary, but I would need help.

• I am not comfortable writing a summary.

Open Ended

What do you need in order to write a summary about an informational text?

Poll

Why do we write summaries?

• To entertain readers with details about the text.

• To convince the reader to read the entire text if they like the summary.

• To inform the reader about the main details of a text.

• To explain how the author crafted their text.

• Irrelevant or too many details

• Your opinion

• Words copied exactly from the text

Should not have:

• Main point of text

• Who is the text about?

• What happened?

• Why did it happen?

• How did it happen?

• Where & when did it happen?

Should have:

How to write a summary (Informational)

RELEVANT VS. IRRELEVANT DETAILS

Multiple Choice

Which detail would be relevant to this main idea? There are many fun things to do at the beach.

• Playing kickball can be lots of fun.

• Some people burn easily in the sun.

• It is fun to walk along the shore and look for shells.

• Unfortunately, we don't live that close to a beach.

Multiple Choice

Which detail would be relevant to this main idea? Even though they sit still for long periods of time, frogs can actually move pretty quickly.

• Frogs live near creeks and ponds where there is water to drink.

• A frog's tongue can roll out and catch a fly in less than a second.

• Frogs like to eat insects, mostly flies and mosquitos.

• Frogs can be very patient while waiting for their food to fly by.

Multiple Choice

Which detail would be relevant to this main idea? Amelia Earhart is famous for being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

• She was able to cross the Atlantic Ocean in only 21 hours.

• She went to the Iowa State Fair and saw a plane for the first time.

• She disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean.

• She first became a nurse and then a social worker before becoming a pilot.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is irrelevant?

What do you do when you're feeling sick? If someone brings me flowers when I'm sick, it makes me feel happy. Many Americans go straight to the drugstore for painkillers, cough syrup, or other medicines. But lots of other Americans (and people all around the world) visit their backyard or the kitchen instead. That's because some mild disorders can be treated with plants, foods, and other natural medicine.

• If someone brings me flowers when I'm sick, it makes me feel happy.

• But lots of other Americans (and people all around the world) visit their backyard or the kitchen instead.

• That's because some mild disorders can be treated with plants, foods, and other natural medicine.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is irrelevant?

Did you know that trees can tell us their age? Under the bark, some trees have growth rings. These rings tell how old the tree is. Some trees lose their leaves in the winter. The dark circle in the center of the trunk is the oldest part of the tree.

• Under the bark, some trees have growth rings.

• These rings tell how old the tree is.

• Some trees lose their leaves in the winter.

PRACTICE WRITING A SUMMARY

1. I guess if I could choose one of the most important moments in my life, I would go back to 1947, in the Yankee Stadium in New York City. It was the opening day of the world series and I was for the first time playing in the series as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers team. It was a history-making day. It would be the first time that a black man would be allowed to participate in a world series. I had become the first black player in the major leagues. I was proud of that and yet I was uneasy.

2. I was proud to be in the hurricane eye of a significant breakthrough and to be used to prove that a sport can’t be called national if blacks are barred from it. Branch Rickey, the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, had rudely awakened America. He was a man with high ideals, and he was also a shrewd businessman. Mr. Rickey had shocked some of his fellow baseball tycoons and angered others by deciding to smash the unwritten law that kept blacks out of the big leagues. He had chosen me as the person to lead the way.

Paragraph 1-2: I Never Had it Made

Read the paragraphs below and write a summary. I will model how to do this first.

Open Ended

Read paragraph 3 of the I Never Had It Made and work with a partner to write a summary of that paragraph.

It hadn't been easy. Some of my own teammates refused to accept me because I was black. I had been forced to live with snubs and rebuffs and rejections. Within the club, Mr. Rickey had put down rebellion by letting my teammates know that anyone who didn't want to accept me could leave. But the problems within the Dodgers club had been minor compared to the opposition outside. It hadn't been that easy to fight the resentment expressed by players on other teams, by the team owners, or by bigoted fans screaming racist words. The hate mail piled up. There were threats against me and my family and even out-and-out attempts at physical harm to me.

Open Ended

Read paragraph 4 and independently write a summary of the paragraph.

Some things counterbalanced this ugliness. Black people supported me with total loyalty. They supported me morally: they came to sit in a hostile audience in unprecedented numbers to make the turnstiles hum as they never had before at ballparks all over the nation. Money is America's God, and business people can dig black power if it coincides with green power, so these fans were important to the success of Mr. Rickey's "Noble Experiment."