Objective Summary of Informational Text

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.

Which best describes what a summary is?

• The main or most important idea of the text

• A really long detailed piece of writing

• A dumb thing teachers make you write

• The entire text in your own words

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.

Which sentence best summarizes the passage?

• 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.

Right now Jason was playing right field. He really wanted to play third base. Earlier this year, coach had put him in left field and second base in a game, but never at third base. Once in practice, coach let him play third base, but he kept missing ground balls. When he did stop one, he made a bad throw to first base. Maybe if he kept practicing, Jason would be good enough to play third base. That was his dream.
The best summary of this passage is:

• Jason really wanted to play third base.
• Jason was the best player on his team.
• Jason had trouble catching ground balls.
• Jason was too lazy to practice.

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.

Weather reporters have to give out a lot of information. That's why they use pictures. The pictures help them tell us about the weather without using so many words. Weather reporters need to know where the cold air is. They need to know where the warm air is. They have to know where it is raining and what types of clouds are in the area. Their reports need to be correct, but they also need to be short. The pictures help weather reporters get the information out in a fast way.
Which sentence best describes the main idea of the paragraph?

• Weather reporters need to know where the cold air is
• Pictures help weather reporters get information out in a fast way
• Their reports need to be correct, but they also need to be short
• They have to know where it is raining and what types of clouds are in the area

Seated on his throne, King Midas wore a golden crown. He had golden rings on each finger and held a golden scepter. His vest was embroidered with golden thread and even his shoes had golden ornaments. He had a golden box filled with gold coins. He named his daughter Marigold.
What is the main idea of this paragraph?

• King Midas loved gold.
• King Midas sold lots of gold.
• King Midas had a heart of gold.
• King Midas hated gold.

Some people say that the White House has ghosts.  The most famous ghost is Abraham Lincoln.  He is often seen standing in his room looking out the window.  Even Eleanor Roosevelt said that she saw him.  There is a legend that old Abe walks back and forth all night before something terrible is about to happen.  This paragraph mainly tells:

• what Lincoln's ghost is like
• when Eleanor Roosevelt's ghost walked
• hwo many ghosts the White House has
• how ghosts show when something will happen

A topic is....

• What the text is mainly talking about
• A sentence in the text that shows the issue the text will be discussing
• An important detail in the text that can help us find the main idea
• The issue the text is talking about

A key detail is...

• A life lesson that the author is trying to communicate to us.
• An important point in the text that can help us find the main idea
• Reveals the main characters in the story.
• Is the main point the author is trying to make about the topic.