Which of the following statements about SUMMARIZING is true?

• The Summary is a thought that is true but is not in the passage.

• The Summary is what the whole passage is mostly about. (includes the main idea)

• The Summary is specific, detailed information contained in the passage.

• The Summary is always found in the first sentence of the passage.

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

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 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.

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

For the walls, Jenny 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. Jenny couldn't wait till she was done decorating her room. It was really going to look awesome.
 The Summary of this passage is:

• Jenny likes bright colors.
• Jenny was going to paint her room.
• Jenny was picking out colors and materials to decorate her room.
• Yellow is a good color to paint your walls.

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

A summary does what?

• nothing
• tells an opinion
• makes an educated guess
• is a shorter way to explain a text with important information or key points

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

Which one of the following is NOT a part of a summary?

• using your own words
• summary being shorter than the text
• exact words from the text
• including main ideas only

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

Which best describes a summary?

• a really long detailed piece of writing
• the entire text told in your own words
• a dumb thing that teachers make you write
• the main ideas and important details of a text

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

Your summary shouldn’t be too short or too long. Look for irrelevant or unimportant details that may make your summary too long, and cut them. Be sure you still answer key questions about the text though! If you don’t, your summary might be too short, and you’ll need to add more details when you revise.

Read the summary below.

Cynthia and the Spaceship is a novel by Evelyn Redding. In the book, Cynthia, the main character, overcomes a challenge to accomplish her dream of owning a spaceship. The novel is set in Chicago in the year 2150.
Which of the following would improve this summary?

• cutting the final sentence
  
• adding details about the challenge Cynthia faces in the novel
  
• adding details about what the spaceship looks like
  
• cutting the title and the author of the book
  

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

No matter what you’re reading, you have to find the main ideas to summarize it. If you’re reading a novel or story, you might organize your summary with five words: “Somebody wanted but so then.” As you’re reading, focus on the main character. That’s the somebody.What do they want? But what stands in their way? So what do they do? Then what is the outcome?

Read the following story.

Little Red Riding Hood wanted to bring a basket of food to her sick grandmother. A mean wolf saw her walking on the path and wanted to trick her. He ran ahead to the grandmother’s house and locked the grandmother away. He then dressed up in the grandmother’s clothes before Little Red Riding Hood arrived. When she got there, Little Red Riding Hood was almost fooled. But she realized the trick and ran away to get a woodcutter who was working nearby. He killed the wolf. Little Red Riding Hood saved her grandmother.
Which of the following best summarizes this story?

• A woodcutter saves the day.
  
• Little Red Riding Hood wanted to bring food to her grandmother, but a wolf tried to play a trick on her by locking up her grandmother. So Little Red Riding Hood found a woodcutter who was working nearby, and he and Little Red Riding Hood put an end to the wolf’s tricks and saved the grandmother.
  
• Little Red Riding Hood went to visit to her grandmother who was sick. A wolf saw her walking on the path. There was also a woodcutter working nearby.
  
• A wolf dressed up as an old woman.
  

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

Opinions don’t belong in a summary. You shouldn’t mention if you liked a text or not. Stick to facts and what the text is mostly about, or the main ideas.

Read the following passage.

The article “Orange You Glad” by Wanda Biederman is all about oranges: the history, varieties and products that are made from them. Oranges are not known to grow wildly. They likely originated in Asia, either in India or in China. Spanish travelers brought the fruit to the Americas in the 1500s. There are bitter oranges and sweet oranges. I like to use bitter oranges to make jelly. Orange juice is made from oranges, and orange oil, which is used to flavor foods, is made of sweet oranges. Oranges are packed with vitamin C, a fact that historically made them a popular food among sailors. Vitamin C helps heal wounds and repair bones. The article concludes with the idea that people should eat an orange, and not an apple, every day.

Which of the following details from the passage does not belong in the summary?

• “They likely originated in Asia…”
  
• “...that historically made them a popular food among sailors.”
  
• “Vitamin C helps heal wounds and repair bones.”
  
• “I like to use bitter oranges to make jelly.”
  

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.9

CCSS.RI.5.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

In a newspaper article, the first paragraph functions like a summary of the event. After answering the five W's, a reporter can give more details about what happened in the remainder of the article. This structure is called an inverted pyramid. It starts out general—with the main ideas—and gets more specific—with details.

Based on this passage, reading only the first paragraph of a newspaper article would

• give a reader no information about a current event.
  
• answer all of a reader’s questions about a current event.
  
• give a reader the main ideas of a current event.
  
• answer only where and when an event took place.
  

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10