How to study tips - Tips to help students and parents - Part 5
Summaries
When you study you often get long passages to read and to study, but not all the information is needed. Often it is necessary to shorten the passage or to identify the main ideas in the passage. You do this by making a summary of the text.
Long passages are divided into paragraphs which are groups of sentences related to the main topic. Most paragraphs has a key concept that you need to focus on. What you will need to do is to identify the important parts of the paragraph and put that in your summary to study later.
The main idea is stated either at the beginning, middle or end of the paragraph. The main idea in the paragraph is called a topic sentence. This topic sentence, announces the general theme of the text/passage. Although it is possible to find the topic sentence in either the beginning, middle or end, it is usually placed at the beginning of a paragraph. This is done for a good reason. This sentence provides the focus for the writer while writing and for the reader while reading.
Once you find the topic sentence, underline it so that it stands out and can easily be identified when you start studying.
Here are the steps to follow to make a successful summary:
1. Read the text
2. Identify the main ideas
3. Underline or highlight the ideas
4. Read the passage again, but only read the highlighted or underlined areas. Funny enough but your brain will now only focus on the underlined or highlighted areas!
Let us practice! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynastinae
Read the given text and underline the main topics in the passage. Once done, you can now either rewrite these sentences on a new piece of paper. Make sure to use your own words when you rewrite the sentences. It is important to use your OWN words so that you can understand the information better. Often it is easier to study something when you rewrite the work in your own handwriting. You can even type this neatly if that makes you more comfortable.
The Dynastinae are among the largest of beetles, reaching more than 150 mm (6 in) in length, but are completely harmless to humans because they cannot bite or sting. Some species, such as the Hercules Beetle, have been known to lift up to 850 times their own weight. Their common names refer to the characteristic horns borne only by the males of most species in the group.
Each has a horn on the head and another horn pointing forward from the center of the thorax. The horns are used in fighting other males during mating season, and for digging. The size of the horn is a good indicator of nutrition and physical health. The body of an adult rhinoceros beetle is covered by a thick exoskeleton. A pair of thick wings lie atop another set of membranous wings underneath, allowing the rhinoceros beetle to fly, although not very efficiently, owing to its large size. Their best protection from predators is their size and stature.
Additionally, since they are nocturnal, they avoid many of their predators during the day. When the sun is out, they hide under logs or in vegetation to camouflage themselves from the few predators big enough to want to eat them. If rhinoceros beetles are disturbed, some can release very loud, hissing squeaks. The hissing squeaks are created by rubbing their abdomens against the ends of their wing covers. Rhinoceros beetles are rather well-protected, and a healthy adult male can live up to 2-3 years. The females rarely live long after they mate.
Once you are done your text will look totally shortened and it should only include the basic facts. You can make a summary from basically any text that you need to study. Just make sure you use your own words and use synonyms for some words if possible to make it more understandable.
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