Study Sync Skills Lesson: Summarizing Text

​Study Sync Skills Lesson: Summarizing Text
Learning Target: I can read a text and provide an objective summary.

By Brendan Mccann

Key Term: Objective

​A statement that does not contain your bias, personal opinion, or emotions about the topic.

As in: She was objective because she only gave the facts, and did not give her opinion.

Key Term: Summarize (verb)

​As in:
To summarize text,
you need to give the main idea and
the important details.

Key Term: Paraphrase (verb)

As in:
When Mr. McCann
tells me to paraphrase, I don't need quotes because I am using my own words!

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If I do not include my opinion but only facts, it will help my summary to be

Select answer

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When I quote the text, I use "quotation marks", but when I

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, I don't need them because I put the text in MY words.

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When I include the main idea, important details, and leave out my opinion, it helps me to

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a story or text that I read.

How to summarize text:

​1. Give the important characters, events, and setting details.
2. Answer who, what, when, where, and why.
3. Do not include YOUR opinion about the story.

Discuss the annotated text!

Example summary:

Multiple Choice

I drove on. No way was I going to help him out again! Let him do his own dirty work for once. He could stay out there and melt in this heat for all I cared. And besides, someone else will stop, I thought. Someone who doesn’t know him like I do.

What best describes Rey's relationship with Mr. Sanchez in this section?

• Mr. Sánchez is like a father figure to Rey.

• Rey thinks that Mr. Sánchez treats him unfairly.

• Mr. Sánchez relies on Rey to do things that he cannot.

• Rey pities Mr. Sánchez as he wishes he could help.

Multiple Choice

Read this section, and pick the best summary.

I kept on looking straight; that is, I made like I was looking ahead, not a care in the world, but out of the corner of my eye I saw that he had a flat tire, that he had gotten two of the lug nuts off but hadn’t gotten to the others, that the crowbar lay half on his other foot and half on the ground beside him, that his hair was matted by sweat to his forehead.

I knew that look. I’d probably looked just like that digging those holes for our basketball court, cleaning up his yard and the one across the street from his house. I wondered if he could use a cold two-liter Coke right about now! If he was dreaming of taking a dip in his pool!

I drove on. No way was I going to help him out again! Let him do his own dirty work for once. He could stay out there and melt in this heat for all I cared. And besides, someone else will stop, I thought. Someone who doesn’t know him like I do.

• Rey recalls times when Mr. Sánchez has used him and does not want to help him fix the flat tire.

• Mr. Sánchez gets a flat tire and wishes he hadn’t taken advantage of Rey in the past.

• Rey sees Mr. Sánchez struggling to fix a flat tire and decides to help him out.

• Mr. Sánchez observes Rey passing him up in his time of need.