Writing a Summary

*Learning and Remembering:

Think of all the reading you do in school. For daily assignments, you are asked to read handouts, chapters, and stories. Then on your own, you are expected to do additional reading for special reports and projects. That's a lot of reading. You need a strategy or method to help you understand and remember the important ideas in these assignments. One such strategy is summary writing.

The Big Squeeze:

When you write a summary, you select only the most important ideas from something you have read. You then combine these ideas into a clear and simple mini-report. Writing a summary tests how well you understand something you have read. It is a very effective learning tool, one that you will use again and again as a student. To see how a summary is written, refer to the model and guidelines that follow.

Original

This article from a reference book describes the changes leaves undergo in the fall. (From The Green Kingdom, Volume 6 of Childcraft--The How and Why Library. Copyright 1993 World Book, Inc.)

Why Leaves Change Color in Autumn

Inside a leaf there are millions of tiny packages of color -- yellow, orange, and green. The yellow is called xanthophyll, the orange is carotene, or carotin, and the green is chlorophyll. The green color covers up the others, and that's why leaves are green all summer.

Near the end of summer, the green chlorophyll fades and disappears. Then the yellow xanthophyll and orange carotene can be seen. That's why many leaves turn yellow and orange in autumn.

All summer, water goes into each leaf through tiny tubes in the leaf's stem. Leaves make sugar, which is a plant's food. Sap carries the sugar out of the leaf to other parts of the plant. Near summer's end, a thin layer of cork grows over the tubes and seals them up. No more water can get into the leaf. Sugar often gets trapped inside leaves when the tubes are sealed up. this sugar may cause the sap to turn red or purpose and make the leaves look red or purple.

When leaves are dry and dead, they turn brown.

Model Summary

In autumn, changes take place inside a leaf causing it to change colors. The green chlorophyll that covers a leaf begins to fade away. This allows the other colors (yellow and orange) to be seen. Also, the tiny tubes inside a leaf close up at the stem and hold in sugar and sap. The sugar may turn the sap red or purple which shows through the leaf. Then, once the leaf dries up, it turns brown.

Writing a Summary

Prewriting - Planning Your Summary

• Skim and List
  • Learn as much as you can about a reading selection before you try to summarize it.
  • Skim it once to get the general meaning. Then read the selection carefully, paying special attention to key words that are boldfaced and italicized.
  • Next, list the main points on your paper.
  • Check your list against the reading selection to make sure you haven't missed anything.

• Use Your Own Words

  • Write your summary in clear and complete sentences. Use your own owrds, except for key words.
  • The first sentence should state the main idea of the selection.
  • Include only the most important information in the rest of your summary. Do not get too detailed.
  • Arrange your ideas in the most logical order.
  • Add a concluding sentence, if one seems to be needed.

   

   

  
  Writing a summary is really a lot like writing a paragraph.
  The first sentence in a summary is the topic sentence.
  The sentences that follow must support the topic sentence.

• Improving Your Work
  • Review it carefully. Ask yourself the following questions:
    • Have I included all of the important ideas?
    • Have I stated these ideas clearly and in my own words?
    • Could another person get the main idea of the selection by reading my summary?

     

The main idea in the model reading selection is stated right in the title: "Why Leaves Change Color in Autumn." That's easy. But what happens when you can't figure out or find the main idea? Try one or more of the following activities.

Self Check

• Make sure you have followed all of the steps listed under section on "Planning Your Summary" above.

Big Questions

• Ask yourself some important questions. What is the biggest, largest, or most important idea in this reading material? what do I want to remember about this material a month from now? (How much do I have to squeeze out?)

Sharing Session

• Talk about the selection with a classmate. What do each of you think the reading is about? Work out any differences in your thinking until both of you agree on the main idea.

Reading Strategies

• Use a reading strategy like KWL (Know, Want, Learn) to help you focus your attention on the important points in the reading material. (See pages 237-243 of your Writer's Express reference book for more on these strategies.) Once you discover the main idea of a reading selection, all of the other parts of your summary should naturally fall into place.

Summarizing is an important part of other longer forms of writing,
especially book reviews, classroom reports, and news stories.
Look at the guidelines for writing a summary
when using these other forms of writing.

(*Please note that all of the information quoted above was taken from our district adopted language arts reference textbook entitled, Writer's Express. The selection on Interview is found on pages 216-219.)

We are writing a summary of the story, Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully. Use the information above to assist you in writing your summary. You can read the story again, if you need to refresh your memory and take some notes. You can also refer to our comprehension questions. This may also help you in gathering your thoughts for an excellent summary. Please always refer to our district's writing rubric and use it to guide your writing.

This will be added to your writing folder when you have completed the writing process and your conference with Mrs. Cirino. Please be sure to print the district's writing rubric and score your paper when you are finished. Then, print the Writing Folder Table of Contents and under the section entitled, Response to Literature, on line one, write Summary of Mirette on the High Wire. We will then put the date and we will score it together, using our district writing rubric. We can then discuss your writing goals and comment together on the summary.

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