Summarizing Texts

What is the purpose of asking 'What' in a summary?

• To explain what happened in the story

• To find out what people wore

• To list every detail

• To understand the feelings of the author

If you're summarizing a nonfiction text about a historical event, which of these would be the most important to include?

• The main people involved, the place, and the reason it happened

• What the author thinks about the event

• How the author felt when writing

• The smallest details from the event

When writing a summary, it is okay to include any opinions or background knowledge you have on the topic.

• True

• False

What five key questions do you need to consider when writing a summary on a NONFICTION TEXT?​ ​ ​ (a)   ​ (b)   ​ (c)   ​ (d)   ​ (e)  

• Who

• What

• When

• Where

• Why

• Somebody

• Wanted

• Then

What question does the 'When' help answer in a summary?

• Who was there?

• Where did it happen?

• When did it happen?

• Why did it happen?

Which of the following statements is true about SUMMARIZING?

• A summary should include many story details.

• A summary should always be fiction.

• A summary is always found in the first sentence of a paragraph or chapter.

• A summary is what the passage is mostly about.

Which best describes what a summary is?

• he main or most important idea of the text

• A dumb thing teachers make you write

• A really long detailed piece of writing

• 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 picking out colors and materials to decorate her room.

• Jenny was going to paint 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.

• 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.

• It was really hot at the zoo.

• The camels were swatting flies with their tails.

• Peter didn't enjoy the zoo because he felt really bad.