Nonfiction Summaries

Select the best summary of The Mimic Octopus from the choices below.

• Chameleons can change their appearance. The octopus can change its color and texture to look like a seashell. Many animals do this for protection. It helps them escape predators.

• There is an octopus called the mimic octopus. It can change the way it behaves. It can also change the way it swims. Some animals change their color and texture to blend in. This is called an adaptation.

• The mimic octopus can change its appearance. It can act like 15 different species. It does this by changing the way it looks and behaves. It does this for protection, which is an adaptation.

• Some animals change for protection. Chameleons change when in danger. Mimic octopus act like sea snakes. They live in the sea.

What is a summary?

• complete retelling of a text

• short description of the most important ideas and information in a text

• the first paragraph of a text

• description of numerical details in a text

What makes a good summary? (choose all that apply)

• Only including information from the text

• Includes only most important details.

• Copies sentences word for word from the text.

• States the reader's opinion

The main idea should be included in a summary.

• True

• False

Rosa Parks has been called the "mother of the civil rights movement." She is one of the most important people of the 20th century. In December of 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger. The bus driver had her arrested. She was sent to court. She was found guilty of breaking the law.

Her act sparked a boycott of the bus system by blacks. Blacks refused to use the buses for more than a year. The boycott introduced the country to a man named Martin Luther King, Jr. People all over the country came to know King. Soon, the U.S. Supreme Court made segregation on city buses against the law.

Over the next forty years, Rosa Parks helped make Americans aware of the history of the civil rights struggle. She earned many honors, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize. She is an example of courage and strength. She inspires all Americans to live free.

The summary of this passage is:

• Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Then, the buses were boycotted, and Martin Luther King, Jr., became very well known. He had a prize named after him.

• Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus. The bus driver had her arrested, and then she was found guilty of breaking the law. She was important to American history.

• Rosa Parks boycotted the bus system. This boycott brought Martin Luther King, Jr., to the front of the civil rights movement. People all over the country got to know Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Rosa Parks was an important person of the 20th century. She refused to give up her seat on a bus, which led to a boycott of the bus system. She earned many honors for her work in the civil rights movement.

A summary includes enough details to tell the important ideas, but not too many unimportant details.

• True

• False

The Blackpole Warbler is a tiny bird that takes a really long trip. This little songbird lives in the forests of North America in the summer. However, when the weather turns cold in North America, the Blackpole Warbler takes flight.These small birds fly all the way to the Caribbean, where they spend the winter on warm tropical beaches. How far does the warbler fly for this tropical getaway? Scientists have tracked the Blackpole Warbler and say these amazing birds can fly over 1,700 miles!

Which is the best summary of this text?

• The blackpole warbler is a small bird. It is also asongbird. It can fly.

• The blackpole warbler is a small songbird that can flyover 1,700 miles.

• The blackpole warbler is a small songbird that flies fromNorth America all the way to the Caribbean. The bird fliesover 1,700 miles.

• Birds often migrate to warmer places in the winter.

What is a heading?

• first sentence in a paragraph

• title for a smaller section of a larger text

• title or caption usually at the top of the page

• picture or graph in a text

What is a subheading?

• title for a smaller section of a larger text

• last paragraph in a text

• border around a text

• title or caption usually at the top of the page

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