Reading Strategy: Summarising

compiled by M. Siwak

Summarising is when you identify the most important ideas and restate them in your own words.

How do I summarise?Be a news reporter

and be able to answer the:

Who?When?Where?What?How?Why?

How do I summarise? Be a detective:Highlight key wordsList key events or

information Use mind mapsTake notes Arrange events in

order of importance

Identify key events and supporting detailsReread Look at the titleLook at the first and

last paragraphAsk yourself: what

was the text about?Look at captions,

pictures, subheadings, words in bold and words in different font.

Look for text or information that is repeated.

Identify what happens first, next, then, finally…

Visuals may help!Main ideaSupporti

ng details

Interesting Facts

Determine what is important: list key events in order of importance Give notes a power rating

3-2-1 Strategy

Power 1

Power 2

Power 3

Power 3

Power 2

Power 3

3 major events

2 interesting facts

1 question you still have

Summarise the main idea in one or two sentences. Think, pair and share.

Highlight 5 words or less to summarise: compare with partner

In the town itself, actually within sight of the house in which Charlie lived, there was an ENORMOUS CHOCOLATE FACTORY! Just imagine that! And it wasn’t simply an ordinary enormous chocolate factory, either. It was the largest and most famous in the whole world! It was WONKA’S FACTORY, owned by a man classed Mr Willy Wonka, the greatest inventor and maker of chocolates that there has ever been. And what a tremendous, marvellous place it was! It had huge iron gates leading into it, and a high and strange whizzing sounds coming from deep inside it. And out the walls , for a half a mile around in every direction, the air was scented with the heavy rich smell of melting chocolate!

Identify 10 key wordsList 3 key events Point out 3 supporting details

But Augustus was deaf to everything except the call of his enormous stomach. He was now lying full length on the ground with his head far out over the river, lapping up the chocolate like a dog. “Augustus!” shouted Mrs Gloop. “You’ll be giving that nasty cold of yours to about a million people all over the country!” Be careful, Augustus!” shouted Mr Gloop. “You’re leaning too far out!” Mr Gloop was absolutely right. For suddenly there was a shriek, and then a splash, and into the river went Augustus Gloop, and in one second he had disappeared under the brown surface. “Save him!” screamed Mrs Gloop, going white in the face and waving her umbrella about. He’ll drown! He can’t swim a yard! Save him! Save him! ... “There he goes!” sombody shouted, pointing upwards. And sure enough, because the pipe was made of glass, Augustus Gloop could be clearly seen shooting up inside it, head first, like a torpedo.

After you have summarised you can synthesize: the putting together of the parts so as to form a whole.

Change your mind Change your thinking

Good readers continually change their thinking in response to a text

I used to think….….but now I thinkI’m changing my mind

about ….Now I understand why…I understand this

because…I learned that…