Help me I need to make a summary!!! - Information and activity for Gr 4-6

Making a summary can be very helpful.  You can use it if you want to study for a test, or you can make a summary of a reading piece if you want to tell somebody the 'highlights' of the piece.

Some people find it very easy to make a summary and others has to exercise it a few times to do it right.

It can be very helpful if you can do it properly, because then your do not have to read through 20 pages of your text book, you can just study your summary....

but

it is very important that you take out the important information so that you do not miss something.

The most important thing you need to know about a summary is that it is NOT copying the work just on a piece of paper.  You are not re-writing a book, you are gathering the facts and writing it in your own words.

                               

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So lets begin and look at the steps you need to follow to be sure your summary is correct and effective.

There are two methods you can use to find the information you are looking for in a reading piece and that is called 'skimming' and 'scanning'.

If you 'skim' through a piece you are just going to let your eyes flow over the piece.  You are not going to read word for word.  You are going to find the 'main idea' or sentence of each paragraph (which will usually be the first sentence of the paragraph) and find all the terms mentioned in the paragraph.  

With 'scanning' you will look more intensively for the different 'key words'. Also look for words that catches your eye that you do not understand. (these words you will have to find the meaning of, because you cannot make a summary if you do not understand what you read.)

You will now continue to ask yourself question like 'who, what, where when'.  The easiest way to make a summary if to take one paragraph at a time.  Take out the 'main idea', read through the explanation and try and write it in your own words in a shorter version,

Remember, you are not going to write down everything the way it is in the reading piece - this is NOT making a summary.

Make sure that you write neatly and in the right order - do not mix up your information - the relevant information must stay with the 'main topic'.  

You can use short sentences, writing in your own words and write it underneath each other that it will be easy for you to read each point again and get an idea as a whole of what you are writing about.

• Have a look at the following link and try and answer the questions on finding the 'main idea' (what is the paragraph about) and also do some exercises https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/free-reading-worksheets/reading-comprehension-worksheets/summarizing-worksheets-and-activities/

You will maybe have to practice a few times before you get it right, but the more you do it, the easier it will get and once you get the hang of it, you will see how much easier it is to study if you are able to make a summary.

You can make summaries from a reading piece or from a video.  Just think about you watching a movie.  After the movie, your friend asks you how it was and what was the movie about.  Are you going to re-tell the whole movie word for word?  No, you are going to take out the important parts and only tell that to your friend.  This is exactly what a summary is - taking out the important parts and re-telling it. 

So if you read a piece, think of it as a movie that you will have to re-tell your friend, so that they will also know what is going on.

• Watch the story and re-tell it in your own words and then write down your own summary of it.

Many people do not like making summaries and they struggle to learn from it, because it just does not make sense to them.  

Our brains all work in different ways, which is fine, and maybe you find making a 'mind map' will help you more, because you can visualize it better.

You have to find out which one you will rather use - a written summary or a mind map.

No matter which one you prefer, as long as you can do it correctly your hours of reading through your textbooks will be cut shorter and it will make studying much easier.

• Watch the video on how to make a mind map and then decide which one you prefer and use it in future.

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