SUMMARIZING

Summarizing is not easy to do. Children easily slip into retelling so it is worthwhile to begin by comparing the two, “This is how summarizing sounds …” “This is how retelling sounds …” You can also do this with what it looks like to critique or to write a journal.

Summarizing is different from retelling, critiquing and writing a journal. When summarizing, the writer analyses the material with this question in mind, “Is this a main point?’ Summarizing is concise and succinct. It is different to critiquing (analyzing in order to make judgements) or writing a journal (diary or record of feelings etc). But for students to critique and write journals they need to know the main ideas of a text.

Pre skill students in the art of summarizing fiction

Summarizing is relating the main ideas of a story. So what are the main points in a story? To me the theme is the first to mention, “This story is about relationships.” Then briefly relate the character’s actions and the turning points of the plot – the cause, the problem, the effects and the solution. Of course, the story ending is included.

In your classroom you can display a framework:

Fiction:

A sentence or two about:

·         how the story began, who, when, where; include the naming of the characters

·         the cause of the problem

·         the problem (and there may be multiple problems) and what was the effect of the problem(s)

·         how the problem was solved

·         how the story ended, the resolution

This framework is modelled and practised by the students before they are expected to independently summarize.

Pre skill students in the art of summarizing non-fiction

When summarizing an article or information the student first determines the THEME – the recurrent argument or message or main facts. For example, the theme in an article about Electrical Energy may be the impact electricity production has on the environment. There may be other main points (these are often termed as interesting points) that you add, but consider that a summary is short and without detail.

To help you find the main points examine the title, for example, A day without electricity? What does this title tell you? The introduction, What is electricity? The headings, How electricity is produced? Key words and phrases electrical energy… is most commonly known as electricity. Also topic sentences (at the beginning of paragraphs), for example, Electrical energy is our most widely used form of energy and the conclusion helps to ascertain the main ideas.

In your classroom you can display a framework:

Non-Fiction:

Identify and link the important ideas from:

• Read, what is the theme?

·         The title

·         The headings

·         The first sentence of the paragraph (topic sentence)

·         Key words (maybe written in bold print) and phrases in each paragraph

·         The graphics, for example, diagram labels, picture labels, caption labels

When modeling the relationship between the main ideas and topic sentences, key words and phrases, examine a paragraph at a time and ask these questions, ‘Is that a main point or an interesting point?’ ‘Should that be considered a main point?’

Have activities such as:

·        Two students working together and listing the main points of a story read aloud using a graphic organizer such as a story map.

·        Listing lots of points in a 2 column journal (graphic organizer) – short statements and discard those that they agree are not so important.

MAIN POINTS	INTERESTING IDEAS

I have given students I have worked with a small post-it note and tell them that they use one side to write the main idea. It seems to work!

From Liz Simon’s, Thinkers and Performers, Bringing Critical Thinking Alive. Published by Hawker Brownlow Education (Victoria), in 2010.

‘Summarising’ and other study skills are written about in Chapter 6 (page 124-128) and chapter 9, Thinking and performing in Book Clubs, (page 154-158).