Grade 6 Reading | FL B.E.S.T. Standard: ELA.6.R.3.2
A summary is a short version of a text that includes only the most important information. A good summary captures the main idea and key details in YOUR OWN WORDS - without adding your opinions!
"Cinderella, a mistreated girl, attended a royal ball with magical help. She fled at midnight, leaving her glass slipper. The prince found her, and they married."
3 sentences - just the essentials!
"Once upon a time, there was a girl named Cinderella who lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters. They were mean to her and made her do all the chores. One day, an invitation came for a ball at the palace..."
Goes on forever with every detail!
Who is the main character?
What did they want?
What was the problem?
What happened in the end?
Add THEN to include the theme or lesson learned!
The subject in ONE word or phrase
The author's main point about the topic (a complete sentence)
Ask: "Would the reader NEED to know this to understand the main point?"
A summary tells what the text SAYS - not what you THINK about it.
"The article explains that recycling reduces landfill waste by 30%."
"The article was really interesting and I think recycling is important."
Words to AVOID in summaries: I think, I feel, I believe, boring, interesting, amazing
Let's Practice!
Malik stared at the floodwaters rising around his family's house. His grandmother couldn't walk well, and the water was creeping up the porch steps. His parents were still at work across town, and the phone lines were down. Malik knew he had to act.
He remembered the inflatable raft in the garage. Working quickly, he inflated it, helped his grandmother climb in, and paddled through the murky streets to the community center on higher ground. When his parents finally found them hours later, his mother hugged him tightly. "You're a hero," she whispered. But Malik just shrugged. "She's my grandmother. What else could I do?"
Teenagers need more sleep than adults - about 8 to 10 hours per night. However, studies show that most teens get less than 7 hours. This sleep deficit has serious consequences.
Research from the National Sleep Foundation shows that sleep-deprived teens have lower grades, higher rates of depression, and slower reaction times. Their brains are still developing, and sleep is when the brain consolidates memories and processes emotions. Some schools have responded by pushing back start times, and early results show improvement in both attendance and test scores.
Read your summary. Can you delete any sentence without losing the main point? If yes, that sentence might not be essential. Keep trimming until every sentence is necessary!