Summarizing
Master condensing information effectively while maintaining key ideas for the ParaPro Assessment.
Reading Study Guide • Comprehension Skills Topic
What You'll Learn
- What makes an effective summary
- The difference between summarizing and paraphrasing
- Steps for creating effective summaries
- Teaching strategies for summarization skills
Understanding Summarizing
Summarizing is the ability to identify and express the most important ideas from a text in a concise form. This critical reading skill helps students comprehend, remember, and communicate what they've read. For the ParaPro Assessment, you'll need to demonstrate your ability to summarize and help students develop this essential skill.
📖 What is a Summary?
A summary is a brief restatement of the main ideas and key supporting details of a text in your own words.
- • Shorter: Typically 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the original
- • Objective: No personal opinions or interpretations
- • Complete: Includes all main ideas
- • Accurate: Faithfully represents the original
- • Independent: Makes sense without reading the original
Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing
Students often confuse summarizing with paraphrasing. Understanding the distinction is important for both the ParaPro Assessment and effective teaching.
📋 Summarizing
- • Condenses entire text
- • Much shorter than original
- • Captures main ideas only
- • Omits minor details
- • Overview of whole text
🔄 Paraphrasing
- • Restates specific parts
- • Similar length to original
- • Includes all information
- • Retains all details
- • Rewording of portions
Example Comparison
Original (3 sentences):
"The honeybee colony is a highly organized society. Worker bees, which are all female, perform various tasks including foraging for nectar, building honeycomb, and caring for larvae. The single queen bee's primary role is laying eggs, while male drones exist solely to mate with queens from other colonies."
Summary (1 sentence):
Honeybee colonies have specialized roles: workers handle daily tasks, the queen lays eggs, and drones mate.
Paraphrase (3 sentences):
The honeybee colony functions as a well-structured community. Female workers gather nectar, construct comb, and nurture young bees. The queen focuses on egg production, while drones breed with queens from other hives.
The STRAP Method for Summarizing
Teaching students a systematic approach to summarizing helps them master this complex skill.
Survey
Preview the text (title, headings, first/last paragraphs)
Think
Identify the main idea and author's purpose
Read
Read carefully, highlighting key points
Analyze
Distinguish main ideas from supporting details
Paraphrase
Write the summary in your own words
What to Include and Exclude
✓ Include:
- • Main idea/thesis statement
- • Major supporting points
- • Key facts or data
- • Important conclusions
- • Significant cause-effect relationships
- • Essential definitions
✗ Exclude:
- • Minor details and examples
- • Repetitive information
- • Personal anecdotes
- • Lengthy descriptions
- • Your own opinions
- • Direct quotes (use own words)
Teaching Strategies for Summarizing
📖 SWBST for Narratives
- Somebody: Who is the main character?
- Wanted: What did they want?
- But: What was the problem?
- So: How did they try to solve it?
- Then: What was the resolution?
❓ 5 W's and H Method
- Who is involved?
- What happened?
- When did it occur?
- Where did it take place?
- Why did it happen?
- How did it happen?
✋ Main Idea Hand
- Palm: Write the main idea
- Fingers: Add 5 key supporting details
- Wrist: Write the conclusion
Students trace their hand and fill in each part.
💬 Tweet the Text
Challenge students to summarize the text in 280 characters or less (like a tweet). This forces extreme conciseness and identification of only the most important information.
Common Summarizing Challenges
Challenge 1: Including Too Much Detail
Problem: Students include every detail, making summaries too long.
Solution: Teach the "Would the summary make sense without this?" test. If yes, the detail can probably be cut.
Challenge 2: Copying Instead of Paraphrasing
Problem: Students copy sentences directly from the text.
Solution: Practice the "read, look away, write" technique. Read a section, look away, then write what you remember.
Challenge 3: Missing the Main Idea
Problem: Summary focuses on interesting details but misses the central point.
Solution: Before summarizing, answer: "What is the ONE thing the author most wants me to understand?"
Challenge 4: Adding Personal Opinion
Problem: Students include their thoughts and reactions.
Solution: Teach the "reporter rule" - summaries should be like news reports, just facts.
Practice Exercises
Exercise 1: Identify the Best Summary
Original Paragraph:
"The Arctic tundra is one of Earth's coldest biomes, with temperatures often dropping below -30°F in winter. Despite these harsh conditions, various animals have adapted to survive here. The Arctic fox grows thick white fur in winter that provides insulation and camouflage. Caribou migrate vast distances to find food, while polar bears hunt seals on sea ice."
Which is the best summary?
- 1. The Arctic tundra is very cold, and Arctic foxes have white fur.
- 2. Despite extreme cold, the Arctic tundra supports adapted wildlife including Arctic foxes, caribou, and polar bears.
- 3. The Arctic tundra has temperatures below -30°F, Arctic foxes with white fur, migrating caribou, and polar bears that hunt seals.
- 4. I think it's amazing how animals can survive in the Arctic tundra.
Click to see answer
Best Answer: #2
This summary captures the main idea (life adapts to harsh conditions) and includes key supporting points without being too detailed or too brief.
Exercise 2: True or False
Identify whether each statement about summarizing is True or False:
- 1. A summary should be about one-third the length of the original text.
- 2. It's okay to include your opinion if you strongly agree with the author.
- 3. Summaries should be written in your own words.
- 4. Every example from the original text should be included.
- 5. A good summary can stand alone without the original text.
Click to see answers
- 1. True - Summaries are typically 25-35% of original length
- 2. False - Summaries must remain objective
- 3. True - Avoiding plagiarism is essential
- 4. False - Only main examples should be included
- 5. True - Summaries should be independently comprehensible
Supporting Different Learners
For Beginning Summarizers:
- • Start with single paragraphs
- • Provide sentence starters
- • Use graphic organizers
- • Practice orally first
- • Work in pairs or small groups
For Advanced Summarizers:
- • Summarize complex texts
- • Compare summaries of same text
- • Adapt summary length for purposes
- • Summarize multimedia sources
- • Create executive summaries
📝 Key Takeaways
- Summaries condense texts to main ideas in your own words
- Effective summaries are brief, accurate, objective, and complete
- Summarizing differs from paraphrasing in length and scope
- Systematic approaches like STRAP help students succeed
- Regular practice improves summarizing skills
Related Reading Topics
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