Summarizing
What Is Summarizing?
Summarizing is how we take larger selections of text and reduce them to their bare essentials: the main ideas and the supporting details that are worth noting and remembering. Webster's calls a summary the "general idea in brief form"; it's the condensation or reduction of a larger work into its primary ideas.
What Are We Doing When We Summarize?
We strip away the extra verbiage and examples. We focus on the heart of the matter. We try to find the key words and phrases that, when written later, still manage to capture the gist of what we've read. We are trying to capture the main ideas and the supporting details necessary for supporting them.
When I Ask You to Summarize, What Usually Happens?
What Did I Want Them To Do?
Goal:
Explicit: Details that are clearly and precisely stated in the text.
Implicit: Details that are not clearly and precisely stated in the text.
Summarizing is how we take larger selections of text and reduce them to their bare essentials: the main ideas and the supporting details that are worth noting and remembering. Webster's calls a summary the "general idea in brief form"; it's the condensation or reduction of a larger work into its primary ideas.
What Are We Doing When We Summarize?
We strip away the extra verbiage and examples. We focus on the heart of the matter. We try to find the key words and phrases that, when written later, still manage to capture the gist of what we've read. We are trying to capture the main ideas and the supporting details necessary for supporting them.
When I Ask You to Summarize, What Usually Happens?
- write down everything
- write down next to nothing
What Did I Want Them To Do?
- pull out main ideas
- focus on key details
- break down the larger ideas
- write only enough to convey the gist
- take brief, but complete notes
Goal:
- I will be able to create summaries that cite explicit and implicit details from the text.
Explicit: Details that are clearly and precisely stated in the text.
Implicit: Details that are not clearly and precisely stated in the text.
Activity: Good vs. Bad SummariesLet's see if you can tell me why these summaries are bad.
Our Strategy: GIST
It's really difficult to go into summaries without having a strategy!
- Harry Potter became a wizard. His best friends were Ron and Hermione. He married Ginny and lived happily ever after.
- In Taken 2, the main character has some great chase scenes on roofs of houses. He is a total beast.
Our Strategy: GIST
It's really difficult to go into summaries without having a strategy!
I'm going to make Harry Potter and Taken 2 summaries using this model.
Practice Articles:
lamborghini Cop.docx | |
File Size: | 168 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Cell Phone Kill Switch | |
File Size: | 16 kb |
File Type: | docx |
ekpes_book_club.docx | |
File Size: | 13 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Lyric Summary:
For this activity, I would like you to work in small groups of 2 people at the most and pick a song and write a summary about the lyrics of the song. Try to pick a song that tells a story and make sure your summary is school appropriate.
For this activity, I would like you to work in small groups of 2 people at the most and pick a song and write a summary about the lyrics of the song. Try to pick a song that tells a story and make sure your summary is school appropriate.
Team Races:
For our next activity, I will split you up into groups and you are going to compete to see who can write a good summary the fastest. The winner will receive candy.
train_crash.docx | |
File Size: | 21 kb |
File Type: | docx |
cheating_patriots.docx | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | docx |
lorde.docx | |
File Size: | 70 kb |
File Type: | docx |