Reading

You should write your summary

• in your own words with complete sentences.

• in a secret language that you make up.

• in one draft without revising.

• in fragments without punctuation.

What can you summarize?

• only novels

• only nonfiction

• only movies

• anything you read or watch

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

What is a summary?

• a short explanation of a text

• a persuasive argument about a text

• a movie based off of a book

• a theme or universal lesson

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

Which of the following statements is true about SUMMARIZING?

• A summary  should include many story details.
• A summary is always found in the first sentence of a paragraph or chapter.
• A summary should always be fiction.
• A summary is what the passage is mostly about.

For the walls, Jamia thought she would use a bright yellow paint. She would pick a border that had mostly bright red and green colors, and maybe a little bit of blue. She already had found some curtains that were sky blue with streaks of red, blue and yellow that she thought would go great with the walls. And finally, she had picked a carpet that was mostly blue with specks of red and yellow. Jamia couldn't wait till she was done decorating her room. It was really going to look awesome.

The best summary of this passage is:

• Jamia likes bright colors.

• Jamia was going to paint her room.

• Jamia was picking out colors and materials to decorate her room.

• Yellow is a good color to paint your walls.

It started when they got to the bears. Peter felt tired and his stomach hurt. He dragged himself over to see the elephants, which were eating from a stack of hay. Normally, the elephants were his favorite. Without much interest, Peter followed his classmates to the camels, which were busy swatting flies with their tails. Peter knew he should be having fun at the zoo, but he just felt terrible and all he wanted to do was lie down and rest. Even the lions and tigers did not interest him now. 
The best summary of this passage is...

• Peter's favorite animals were the elephants.
• The camels were swatting flies with their tails.
•  It was really hot at the zoo.
• Peter didn't enjoy the zoo because he felt really bad.

Tomorrow is Shavanna's birthday. She is excited because she gets to pick where she will eat dinner. Will it be Mexican food at the Big Enchilada House? Or will it be fried chicken at the Chicken Shack, or a big cheeseburger at Al's Hamburger Palace. She just couldn't decide. Then there was always the Pizza Shop with that great pepperoni pizza. How would she ever decide? Maybe she would just flip a coin.

The best summary of this passage is:

• Shavanna has many restaurants to choose from for her birthday.

• Shavanna loves Mexican food.

• The Pizza Shop has the best pizza in town.

• Shavanna will choose a place by flipping a coin.

Vonique watched the ants as they carried small crumbs down the trail to the anthill. She thinks ants are very hard working and industrious little creatures. They always seemed busy, and you never saw an ant just laying around doing nothing. They were carrying food, building tunnels, or defending the anthill. One thing you could say about ants is that they sure aren't lazy.

The Summary of this passage is:

• Ants carry many things.

• Some ants may bite you.

• Ants are hard workers.

• Some ants help take care of the queen.