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When we summarise a text, we give a very short version which only includes the main points and ideas.
A good summary will include who, what and why.
It will tell us what the main event was.
Who was involved in the main event.
Why the main event happened.
Can you summarise your weekend in one sentence using who, what and why?
Here’s Atri's summary:
I went swimming with my friend to train for our competition.
Here, he told you the main thing he did this weekend (what), who he went with and why he did it.
He left out all the extra information like what time he did everything, what he ate that morning and how he got there.
When you write a summary, you hold all the power as you must decide which information is the most important.
Lots of the story or text may be interesting but only a small amount will be very important.
Read the extract below from 'Five Children and It' by E. Nesbit
Use the clues in the extract to help you work out what a hired hack is. Clue: it’s pulling the carriage.
Chapter 1: Beautiful as the Day
The house was three miles from the station, but, before the dusty hired hack had rattled along for five minutes, the children began to put their heads out of the carriage window and say, "Aren't we nearly there?" And every time they passed a house, which was not very often, they all said, "Oh, is this it?" But it never was, till they reached the very top of the hill, just past the chalk-quarry and before you come to the gravel-pit. And then there was a white house with a green garden and an orchard beyond, and mother said, "Here we are!"
"How white the house is," said Robert.
"And look at the roses," said Anthea.
"And the plums," said Jane.
"It is rather decent," Cyril admitted.
The Baby said, "Wanty go walky;" and the hack stopped with a last rattle and jolt.
Can you summarise the story so far using who and what?
Here's one summary:
A family move to their new house at the top of a hill.
We haven’t been told why the family are moving house, so we can’t put that in our summary but we can add where they have moved to.
As well as summarising, we can also be asked to order events.
Can you order these events from the extract?
Mother announced they had arrived.
The horse and cart stopped.
They reached the top of a hill.
The children poked their heads out of the window.
Always check the text before answering an ordering question.
Here’s the correct order:
Mother announced they had arrived.3
The horse and cart stopped. 4
They reached the top of a hill. 2
The children poked their heads out of the window. 1
The last two events were a bit tricky as the children’s mother announced that they’d arrived before the horse and cart actually stopped.
In this activity, you will summarise and order events from a story. Make sure you always check the text before answering a question.
