Summarizing Nonfiction

Julie 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.

When writing a summary for a INFORMATIONAL text, what is a good thing to consider?

• characters

• solution

• details and facts

• conflict

A summary is...

• A list of key details in the text that are placed in the correct order.

• A short paragraph in a fictional story that reveals the big idea, lesson, or moral.

• A short paragraph that you create which includes the main idea of the text and some key important details.

• A short paragraph that you find in the text which includes the main idea and some key details.

When should you use TAMI?

• Informational Passages

• Poetry

• Long, complicated stories

• Short, easy personal narratives

TRUE or FALSE: never include opinions in a summary of a text.

• TRUE

• FALSE

What does "FINISH IT" (from the TOPIC SENTENCE organizer) mean?

• To write down what your favorite part of the text was

• To record the title, author and genre of the text

• To provide a brief overview of what the text was about

TRUE or FALSE: You should include a closing sentence in your summary to wrap it all up.

• TRUE

• FALSE

TRUE or FALSE: A summary should ONLY discuss the central idea and most important details of a text.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Appears in the opening paragraph and explains the main idea of the text.

• evidence

• topic sentence

• explanation

• conclusion

A story or text that is true is called

• fiction

• nonfiction

• makebelieve