how to summarize a story in a paragraph and how to summarise a text
Dr.PeterCena,Swaziland,Researcher
Published Date:02-07-2017
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Summary
of
Fiction and Non-Fiction Text
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?
What does it mean to
Summarize?
Fountas and Pinnell remind us that as readers, we are constantly
extracting information from a piece of text and condensing that
information in some type of summary form. To summarize a piece of
text, a reader need not just recap the text after reading, though that is
indeed a needed skill. Readers must constantly engage in some sort of
ongoing interpretation of what they are reading, by putting together
what has been read so far as they continue to process the text. A reader
must be able to identify information while reading, extract that
information from the print, and form an ongoing synopsis of what it
means. The art of summarizing involves bringing all that information
in a concise form so that the reader then takes that information from
the text and makes it his own.
Ultimately, it is important to remember that summarizing is an in-the-
head strategy whose sole purpose is to help the reader comprehend
text. Even though students are required to write or select a good
summary on proficiency tests, we want the learner to be able to select
the important ideas and carry them forward as tools of thought.
—Fountas and Pinnell, 2001
Challenge of Summary:
Summary is a difficult skill for students for a variety of reasons. First,
the student must identify the genre — generating a summary of
narrative text is different from summarizing expository text. Second,
the student must be able to discriminate between trivial details and
important ideas. Good summaries do not have many trivial details.
Finally, if the passage being summarized is narrative, then the student
must identify information that is important to the plot. And if the
passage is expository, the student must identify information that is
important to the topic.
Summary in the TEKS
rd th th
Students in 3 grade are Students in 4 grade are Students in 4 grade are
expected to: expected to: expected to:
Fig. 19 (E) summarize information Fig. 19 (E) summarize Fig. 19 (E) summarize and
in text, maintaining meaning and information in text, maintaining paraphrase texts in ways that
logical order meaning and logical order maintain meaning and logical
order within a text and across
texts
Note: Please don't be confused by the TEKS for Theme and Genre which state:
Students in 3rd grade are Students in 4th grade are Students in 4th grade are
expected to: expected to: expected to:
5(A) paraphrase the themes and 3(A) summarize and explain the 3(L3) summarize and explain the
supporting details of fables, lesson or message of a work of lesson or message of a work of
legends, myths, or stories; fiction as its theme; fiction as its theme;
Or the TEKS for Sequence of Events which state:
8(A) sequence and summarize the 6(A) sequence and summarize the 6(A) describe incidents that
plot's main events and explain their plot's main events and explain their advance the story or novel,
influence on future events; influence on future events; explaining how each incident gives
rise to or foreshadows future
events;
Or the TEKS for Main Idea which state:
13(A) identify the details or facts 11(A) summarize the main idea 11(A) summarize the main ideas
that support the main idea; and supporting details in text in and supporting details in a text in
ways that maintain meaning; ways that maintain meaning and
logical order;
The word Summary or Summarize is found throughout the TEKS. It is confusing to
students, however, when strategies for summarization are taught at the same time as
strategies for Main Idea, Sequence of Events, or Theme. Summarizing fiction and non-
fiction text needs to be taught explicitly, and students should be able to clearly describe
how to create a summary, what a good summary is, and how summary is different from
(for example) main idea.
Teaching Summarization
with Narrative Text
Learning Intentions:
o To extract the important elements from a piece of text for the purpose
of comprehending that text.
o To reduce large pieces of text into the bare essentials including the gist,
the key ideas, and the main points worth remembering.
o To authentically construct a short paragraph that includes the main
ideas of the text.
Lesson 1: Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then Strategy (for
Narrative Text):
Materials:
Previously read text or familiar class text
Teacher completed summary on an overhead or chart
Chart paper for posting
Multiple copies of a short piece of text
Overview: The strategy "Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then" is
used to help students understand plot elements such as conflicts
and resolutions. It can be used as a “during reading” or “after
reading” strategy. Student can complete a chart or graphic
organizer that identifies the character, the goal of the character,
what problems or conflicts that are being faced, and what the
resolution of the conflict is.
Suggested Teaching Strategies:
1. Teacher selects a piece of text that has previously been read with the
class or one with which the class is most familiar.
2. Teacher models the SWBST strategy on a chart or an overhead and
uses the information to write a summary of the text.
3. Students analyze what makes it a summary and discuss as a whole
group. Teacher begins a criteria chart that is posted for all to use.
For example:
Strategy for Narrative Summary: Estrategia para resumir relatos:
Somebody (identify the character(s) Alguien (identifica al personaje)
Wanted (describe the character’s goal) Quería (describe el objectivo del personaje)
But (describe a conflict that hinders the character) Pero (describe un conflicto que impida al
So (describe how the character reacts to the personaje)
conflict) Así que (describe cómo el personaje reacciona al
Then (describe the resolution of the conflict conflicto)
Luego (describe la resolución del conflicto)
Remember to focus on information that is most
Acuérdate de centrarte en la información más
significant.
importante.
(A point to be made should include that an author’s message can be
written in a short paragraph form of 3-5 sentences.)
4. Teacher then selects a piece of text to be read in a shared reading
format. (“Begin the process with short texts (perhaps a legend or
fable) that do not have too many details and are fairly easy to
summarize,” say Fountas and Pinnell).
5. Work together as a class to create a group summary, selecting and
deleting details. Compare the work to the criteria chart to check for
correctness.
6. Leave the work posted so that students have a model to refer to for
future work.
Examples:
Somebody Wanted But So Then
The Big Bad Wolf Pigs for dinner They hid in the He went hungry. The pigs
brick house. celebrated.
Anne Frank To hide from the Someone turned She died in a Her story was
Nazis her in concentration shared with the
camp. world.
Adolf Hitler To control all of The Allies fought He killed himself The Allies won the
Europe against him when Germany was war.
defeated.
Christopher To sail to India to He ran into the He claimed the Europeans began to
Columbus buy spices Caribbean Islands area for Spain. settle the "New
World"
Thomas Edison To invent the His lightbulb It later led to the The electronics
incandescent blackened (the electron tube industry was born
lightbulb Edison effect)
Stephen Hawking To be a His father wanted He combined He became one of
mathematician him to be a chemist science and math to the most respected
study black holes in physicists in the
the universe. world.
Alguien Quería Pero Así que Entonces
El Lobo Feroz Comerse a los Se escondieron en Se quedó con Los cerditos
cerditos la casa de ladrillo hambre. festejaron.
Ana Frank Esconderse de los Alguien la entregó a Murió en un campo Su historia fue
Nazis las autoridades de concentración. compartida con
todo el mundo.
Adolf Hitler Quería controlar Los Aliados Se suicidó cuando Los Aliados ganaron
toda Europa lucharon contra él Alemania fue la guerra.
derrotada.
Cristóbal Colón Navegar a la India Dio con las Islas Reclamó el área Los europeos
para comprar del Caribe para España. empezaron a
especias colonizar el “Nuevo
Mundo”.
Thomas Edison Inventar la lámpara Su bombilla se Luego condujo al Nació la industria
incandescente oscurecía (el tubo de electrones, electrónica.
efecto Edison) que es la base de la
industria
electrónica.
Stephen Hawking Ser matemático Su padre quería que Él unió la ciencia y Se convirtió en uno
fuese químico la matemática para de los físicos más
estudiar agujeros respetados del
negros en el mundo.
universo.
Narrative Summary
Somebody Wanted/Needed But So Then
Three to five sentence summary
Prove It
Detail:
Detail:
Detail:
Resumen Narrativo
alguien quería/ pero así que entonces
necesitaba
Resumen de 3 - 5 oraciones
Compruébalo
Detalle:
Detalle:
Detalle:
Lesson 2: Plot Diagram Strategy (for Narrative Text)
Materials:
Previously read text or familiar class text (copies available to the
students)
Teacher completed summary on an overhead or chart
Chart paper for posting Plot Diagrams
Overview: The Plot Diagram strategy is aligned with the new (2009)
TEKS in that it focuses on summaries that maintain logical progression,
and can also be used to emphasize how characters respond to situations
and change over time. The Plot Diagram begins with a graphic organizer
that students fill out inserting relevant details from the story. Then the
students use that graphic organizer to actually write a coherent summary of
the story.
Suggested Teaching Strategy:
1. After reading aloud a short, narrative passage of text, the teacher models
the Plot Diagram strategy using the plot graphic organizer. The teacher
fills in the graphic organizer, and then works with the students to transfer
the information from the graphic into a good summary.
Those resources are kept available for the students to refer to as an Anchor
of Support.
2. The next day, after reading aloud a short, narrative passage of text, the
teacher divides the students into small groups. The students work with
chart paper to create a Plot Diagram graphic, and then to transfer the
information from the graphic into a good summary. The students then
present their summary to the class.
3. The next day, students are given simple leveled readers to read. Then
they transfer the information from the short, narrative text into the graphic
organizer, and finally into a summary.
Sample Plot Diagram:
What's the Problem? The wolf is hungry and he
wants to eat the pigs. He blows down the
house of straw, and he blows down the house of
sticks. Those pigs run and hide in the house of
bricks.
How does the story Begin?
The three little pigs
decide to build their
houses out of straw,
sticks, and bricks.
What's the Resolution?
The wolf can't blow
down the house of
bricks. It's too strong.
The pigs are safe in the
house of bricks, and
they are very happy.
Characters & Setting
Three little Pigs and the Big
Bad Wolf at the pig's houses.
Summary:
Three little pigs decided to build houses. The first built his house of straw, the
second built his house of sticks, and the third little pig built his house of bricks.
A big bad wolf came along, and he was hungry. He wanted to eat the little pigs.
First he blew down the house of straw, and that pig ran to the house of sticks.
Then the wolf blew down the house of sticks, and the two pigs ran to the house
of bricks. The wolf tried to blow down the house of bricks, but it was too strong.
The three little pigs were safe in the house of bricks. They danced around
singing, "Who's afraid of the big, bad, wolf?"
Plot Diagram Summary
What's the Problem?
How does the story Begin?
What's the Resolution?
Characters & Setting
Summary:
Teaching Summarization
with Nonfiction Text
Overview: The reporter’s formula strategy: Who, Did What,
When, Where, Why (sometimes How)? is used to help students
understand summarization of nonfiction text. It can be used as a
“during reading” or “after reading” strategy. Student can
complete a chart or graphic organizer that identifies the main idea
and important details of a piece of nonfiction text.
Follow the same lesson procedures as written for narrative
summary. A criteria chart will be developed with the students
and might look like this:
Strategy for Nonfiction Summary: Estrategia para resumir no ficción:
Who/What is the passage mostly about? ¿De quién (o de qué) trata
(topic or subject) principalmente el texto? (tema o asunto)
What is important about the topic or ¿Qué es lo importante del tema o asunto?
subject? ¿Cuándo sucede esto?
When does this take place? ¿Dónde sucede esto?
Where does this take place? ¿Por qué es importante el tema o asunto?
Why is the topic or subject important? ¿Cómo sucede esto?
How does this occur?
See graphic organizer charts that follow. These can be enlarged, laminated and
posted in classrooms for student reference.
Summary for Non-Fiction
Title:
Who/What is the most important subject in this passage/article?
What is important about that subject?
When does/did this take place?
Where does this take place?
Why is the subject important?
How does/did this occur?
Write a 3 - 5 sentence summary.
Resumen expositivo
Título:
quien-¿Hay algún tema importante en este pasaje?
que-¿Qué es lo mas importante del tema?
cuándo-¿Cuándo ocurrió esto?
dónde-¿Dónde ocurrió esto?
por qué-¿Por qué es importante el tema?
cómo-¿Cómo ocurrió esto?
Resumen de dos o tres oraciones
Example Anchor Chart
Using the Reporter’s Formula to Summarize Non-Fiction
Where How
Who/What
What Why
When
Did this occur?
is most important Is the subject
Did this occur? Did this occur?
is most important?
about them? important?
Our Summary:
Example Anchor Chart
Usando la fórmula periodística Para resumen
de No ficción
¿De quién o de
¿Dónde
¿Qué ¿Por qué
qué ¿Cuándo
¿Cómo
es importante el
se trata sucede esto?
es lo importante del
sucede esto?
principalmente el sucede esto?
tema o asunto? tema o asunto?
texto?
Resumen:
Summary
Stems
• Which is the best summary of this selection?
• Read the first sentence of the summary below:
_______________________________________________________
Which of the following completes the summary
above?
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Teach:
Teach:
Reporter’s Formula
Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then
WHO/WHAT is the most
important subject?
_______
Plot Diagram
WHAT is most important
about?
WHERE did this occur?
Emphasize: Not too
WHEN did this occur?
many details, and
WHY is subject
important?
must describe the
HOW did this occur?
plot of the story.
Sts write summary using reporter’s formula and match their summary
to the choices.
Resumen
Ejemplos de STAAR
• ¿Cuál es el mejor resumen de este artículo?
• Lee la primera oración del siguiente resumen:
_______________________________________________________
¿Cuál par de oraciones termina mejor el resumen?
No ficción
Ficción
Enseñe:
Enseñe:
la fórmula periodística
Alguien, Quería, Pero, Así que, Luego
¿De quién (o de qué) trata principalmente
el texto?
¿Qué es lo importante del tema o asunto?
¿Cuándo sucede esto?
¿Dónde sucede esto?
¿Por qué es importante el tema o asunto?
¿Cómo sucede esto?
Sin detalles
Los estudiantes escriben un
resumen que utiliza la fórmula
periodística y relacionan su
resumen con las opciones.
Summary Frames
From Bobb Darnell, Ed.D. bobbdarnellmac.com 9/05
Summary Frames are Powerful Tools for Teaching Independent Reading, Thinking and
Writing. They give the student some structure to support their writing, and help students to
see that summaries can come in a lot of forms. Obviously, a narrative summary would be
different from an expository summary. But even within a genre a summary focusing on a
sequence of events would be different from a summary focusing on problems and solutions.
Too often our students think that a summary has information from the beginning, middle, and
end of the story. That's often true, but a GOOD summary is concise and focuses on the
relevant information, including important details, but omitting less important information.
Practice with Summary Frames can help students understand that the qualities of a GOOD
summary depend upon the information the author of the summary wants to emphasize.
Sequence Summary Frame
In order to __________ you must follow several steps.
First, _____________________.
Then, ____________________.
Next, _____________________.
Finally, ___________________.
Chronological Summary Frame
____________has a specific order.
At the beginning _______________..
After that, _____________________.
Then, ____________________.
Next, _____________________.
The, ____________ ended when ____________________.
Compare-Contrast Summary Frame
______________ and _____________ are alike and are different in several ways.
First, they are alike because __________ but they are different _________.
Secondly, ______ is ________ while ________ is __________.
Finally, _______ and ________ are alike because _______________.
But, they are different because ___________.
Problem-Solution Summary Frame
The problem began when __________.
The ___________ tried to __________.
After that, ________________.
Then, __________________
The problem was finally resolved when _______________.
Definition/Word Meaning Summary Frame
The word/concept __________ is important to (subject) _____________.
It relates to (category or big idea it belongs to) ___________.
One main characteristic of (word/concept) is _______.
Another key characteristic/element is _____________.
An example of this word/concept is _________.
Main Idea/Details Summary Frame
The main idea of this passage is ________________________.
One fact or example that supports this main idea is _____________________.
Another fact or example that supports this main point is _________________.
In addition, ____________________.
Finally, ________________________ illustrates that (main idea) _______________________.
Cause/Effect Summary Frame
In order to understand the (effect/result) _________________ you must identify the causes.
The first cause of (effect/result)_______ is _________________.
Secondly, ____________________ was another cause of (effect/result) ___________.
A third cause of (effect/result)_______ is __________.
It is clear that (effect/result)__________ has a number of contributing causes.
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