Summarizing and Details

Tomorrow is Jill's birthday. She is excited because she gets to pick where she will eat dinner. Will it be Mexican food at the Big Enchilada House? Or will it be fried chicken at the Chicken Shack, or a big cheeseburger at Al's Hamburger Palace. She just couldn't decide. Then there was always the Pizza Shop with that great pepperoni pizza. How would she ever decide? Maybe she would just flip a coin. The Main Idea of this passage is:

• Jill has many restaurants to choose from for her birthday.

• Jill loves Mexican food.

• The Pizza Shop has the best pizza in town.

• Jill will choose a place by flipping a coin.

Read the following passage and then answer the question. "Are you already done, son?" his father asked. "It seems like you just got in the water." Jacob was finished with his bath in less than two minutes. He got his body and hair wet, rubbed some grape flavored shampoo on his hair, washed his body with soap, and quickly rinsed it off. He liked to take fast baths so he would have more time to play. In fact, Jacob never took a long bath. To him, the faster the bath, the better.

What is the Main Idea of this passage?

• Jacob is very clean.

• Jacob uses grape flavored shampoo.

• Jacob likes to take fast baths.

• Jacob never took showers.

It started when they got to the bears. Peter felt tired and his stomach hurt. He dragged himself over to see the elephants, which were eating from a stack of hay. Normally, the elephants were his favorite. Without much interest, Peter followed his classmates to the camels, which were busy swatting flies with their tails. Peter knew he should be having fun at the zoo, but he just felt terrible and all he wanted to do was lie down and rest. Even the lions and tigers did not interest him now.  The Main Idea of this passage is:

• Peter's favorite animals were the elephants.

• The camels were swatting flies with their tails.

•  It was really hot at the zoo.

• Peter didn't enjoy the zoo because he felt really bad.

A summary is NOT a place for:

• Opinions

• Main Ideas

• Background knowledge

• Quotes from the text

• Key facts and important details

A summary should be:

• Some words from the text

• Shorter than the text

• Use your own words

• Must include details

• Main ideas only

You can use these story elements to summarize a short fictional text:

• plot, characters, problem, & solution

• characters, main idea, details, & plot

• conflict, setting, rising actions, & solution

• characters, setting, problem, & solution

What does the this letter stand for in the SWBSTF summarizing method?

What does the this letter stand for in the SWBSTF summarizing method?

What does the this letter stand for in the SWBSTF summarizing method?

What does the this letter stand for in the SWBSTF summarizing method?