Writing a Summary

Essential Questions
What is a summary?
What makes a good summary?
How can I write a summary?

What is a summary?
A. A summary is all of the ideas from a
text, written in your own words
B. A summary is your opinions about a
text
C. A summary is a shortened form of a
text, with all of the main ideas
D. A summary is a review of a text,
with main ideas and your opinions

What is a summary?
A. A summary is all of the ideas from a
text, written in your own words
B. A summary is your opinions about a
text
C. A summary is a shortened form of a
text, with all of the main ideas
D. A summary is a review of a text,
with main ideas and your opinions

Why do we write
summaries?
Readers can write a summary of a text to
let someone else know the main ideas

Why do we write
summaries?
Summarizing a text helps you to
understand itas you figure out the
most important ideas, your brain is
engaged in understanding the text

How long should a summary

be?

It depends!

How long should a summary

be?

The length of a
summary depends
on the length of
the original text
A summary should
always be shorter
than the original
text

What makes a good

summary?
Here are four basic rules for writing a
summary:
Include the important ideas from the text
Put ideas in your own words
Leave out little details and repeated
information
Use the text structure of the text

Include important ideas from the

text

This is easy to say, but sometimes

hard to do! As you read, its
important to think about what ideas
are most important to the author

Include important ideas from the

text
Many butterflies depend on
certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.
If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for
their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

Which ideas are important in this

text?
Many butterflies depend on
certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.
If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for
their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

Which ideas are important in this

text?
Even though you might
have some personal
connection with some of
the ideas, you need to
think about whats
important to the author.
Look for the topic
sentences and big ideas.

Many butterflies depend on

certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.

If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for

their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

Which ideas are important in this

text?
Even though you might
have some personal
connection with some of
the ideas, you need to
think about whats
important to the author.
Look for the topic
sentences and big ideas.

Many butterflies depend on

certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.

If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for

their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

Which ideas are important in this

text?
Do you agree that
these are the big
ideas in the text?

Many butterflies depend on

certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.

If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for

their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

Finding important ideas

What strategies do you use to find
important ideas in a text?
Why do you think this is important
for summarizing?

Putting ideas in your own words

Putting ideas in your own words is
also called paraphrasing
Instead of just copying down the
authors words, we need to use our
own words

Putting ideas in your own words

Can you paraphrase this sentence
from the text?
Many butterflies depend on certain
plants to survive.

Putting ideas in your own words

Hint: Try using synonyms for
important words
Many butterflies depend on certain
plants to survive

Putting ideas in your own words

Hint: Try changing the order of ideas

Many butterflies depend on certain

plants to survive

Putting ideas in your own words

Heres one way to paraphrase the sentence.
How does it compare to yours?
Butterflies need specific plants to live
Original Text:
Many butterflies depend on certain plants to
survive

Paraphrasing
There are some words that you cant change
when you paraphrase. These key words are the
important words from the passage.

For example, in the

passage that we read,
the words butterfly
and caterpillar cannot
be replaced

Trivial Details
Small details can be called trivial
detailsthey might be interesting,
but are not important to the main
ideas of the passage
We do not need to include these
small details in summaries

What small details do you notice?

Many butterflies depend on
certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.
If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for
their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

What small details do you notice?

While this
example
supports the
main idea, it is
not needed for a
summary

Many butterflies depend on

certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.

If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for

their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

What other small details do you

notice?
Many butterflies depend on
certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.
If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for
their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

What other small details do you

notice?
The description
of the Xerxes
Society is not
needed in a
summary.

Many butterflies depend on

certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.

If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for

their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

Repeated Ideas
Authors also might repeat ideas. When
the same idea is restated, we only need
to include it once in a summary.

Using text structure

The text structure of a text refers to
how the text is organized

Description
Cause and Effect
Chronological Order
Problem/Solution
Compare and Contrast

Using text structure

When you look at the text structure of a
text, you can find the big ideas and see
how to organize your summary

Description
Cause and Effect
Chronological Order
Problem/Solution
Compare and Contrast

What is the text structure?

Many butterflies depend on
certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.
If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for
their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

What is the text structure?

Overall, this
paragraph shows
the text structure
of cause and
effect.

Many butterflies depend on

certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.

If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for

their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

Text Structure in a Summary

In your
summary, you
need to show the
cause and effect!

Many butterflies depend on

certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.

If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for

their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.

What makes a good

summary?

What makes a good

summary?

What makes a good

summary?
What do you remember about the four
rules for writing a good summary?
Include the important ideas from the text
Put ideas in your own words
Leave out little details and repeated
information
Use the text structure of the text

Now, its your turn!

Look back at the butterfly text. Can
you write a summary?

Write your own summary

Many butterflies depend on
certain plants to survive. As
adults, butterflies drink nectar.
But caterpillars eat leaves. Some
caterpillars only eat the leaves of
specific plants. Monarch
caterpillars, for example, eat
only milkweed.
If butterflies cannot find the food source they need for
their eggs, the next generation will not survive. When habitats
are changed, such as when wetlands are drained or forests are
cleared, butterfly populations may drop dramatically.
According to the Xerxes Society, an invertebrate conservation
group, over 50 kinds of U.S. butterflies are at risk.