Summarizing and Central Idea

What is a summary?

• a short explanation of a text
• a persuasive argument about a text
• a movie based off of a book
• a theme or universal lesson

When would you most likely summarize a book?

• when you want to forget a book you've read
• when you want to tell a friend your opinion of a book but not what it was about
• when you want to tell a friend the gist or main ideas of a book
• when you don't understand a vocabulary word you read in a book

A summary of a nonfiction text should

• answer the 5 W's and H: who, what, when, where, why, and how

• describe the details but not the main ideas

• never mention the plot of the text

• always mention the age of the author

Summarizing is a retelling in your own words, a short version of the main ideas, events and details.

• True
• False

When you determine the main idea of a text, significant details and condensing information into a short one or two sentence summary, you are:

• predicting
• evaluating
• summarizing
• judging

To retell something in your own words is to...

• classify
• paraphrase
• distinguish

In the before reading phase, you create a purpose for reading. What do you do next?

• put that purpose into a question
• pause and reflect
• ask myself questions as I read
• visualize what I am reading

Summarizing can be best described as taking the passage and listing briefly the most important points in your own words.

• False
• True

While reading, if I do not know what I have read, or something is not clear, I should

• write "I don't know" on my notes.
• keep reading, I want to finish first.
• go back and reread to find my answers.
• keep reading, maybe I will understand later.

An_________________ is when you retell or rewrite a story in your own words, but DO NOT include your own thoughts, ideas, or opinions.

• paraphrase
• objective summary
• conclusion
• inference