Summaries are difficult.
Writing summaries, oral summaries–it doesn’t matter.
Both? Difficult.
No matter the student’s age, the act of reading something–anything–and either retelling or summarizing is really, truly tough.
Summarizing is a skill that must be explicitly taught. And it’s a skill that must be modeled.
And it’s a skill that is worth revisiting time and time again, year after year.
This year, Maddy’s been challenged with the weekly task of reading her choice of a news article and summarizing it. I love the assignment. Personally, any repeated effort to improve a student’s reading and writing skills is a win in my book.
However, her summaries were rough at first. Really rough.
So I dusted off my teaching resources, updated a few things, and handed her this: the 1-hand summary.
Here’s the skinny. . .
How to Teach Summary Writing–The 1-Hand Summary:
My goal with this was to have it work for anything Maddy chose–a news article, a magazine article, anything. And for the most part, it works.
I started with the very article that Maddy chose for her homework–a piece from The Washington Post about Jennifer Yu, a local chess champion.
Maddy knew she needed some support with her summary writing assignment; she had written summaries for about four weeks, and each time, we worked together on multiple edits.
Her summaries were not summaries.
She was including her opinion.
She was missing major details.
She was adding too much detail.
She was not including the ‘stuff’ of summaries.
So I handed her the 1-Hand Summary Sheet.
We looked at the hand and talked about the components of a strong summary:
- title and author
- strong topic sentence
- facts and no opinions
- conciseness–say everything you need to say in as few words as possible
- 5 W’s and H are covered (who? what? why? where? when? and how?)
We read the article together.
And then I showed her the sample summary.
Kids must see models. They must. There’s no way kids automatically know what a good summary looks like or sounds like.
So reading the one I created helps. We talked about why it works.
We talked about some strategies to use while reading to save time later: highlighting or circling important details or putting a star or a checkmark in the margins. You can even write in the margins if it’s a newspaper article.
We talked about how this summary includes the infamous 5 W’s and H (who? what? why? where? when? and how?) but incorporates them in an easy to understand paragraph.
We talked about why the topic sentence is so important.
We talked about how you can grab words and phrases from the title of the article to make your writing easier.
The 1-Hand Summary helps.
I love the format of this 1-hand summary. Yes, it covers the typical: Someone. . . wanted. . .but then. . .finally.
But for a more advanced writer, it includes a topic sentence where students can incorporate the title and author of the piece. I think that’s important. And it will prepare kids for higher level writing down the road.
The 1-Hand Summary is here to download if you’d like. Simply throw your email in the box below, and it will end up in your inbox — like magic!
In order to succeed in school and in life, strong readers need to be able to summarize what they’ve read.
Summarizing is a foundational skill of the Common Core State Standards. It’s a building block and a necessary component of any comprehensive reading program, and summarizing is an element of every grade, every year:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
But even before the CCSS’s were around, we all know that summarizing is a skill necessary for success just about anywhere.
Want a few more resources for summary writing?
- summarizing and close reading
- 10 way to talk to kids about books
- questioning and connecting during read alouds
- 5 things never to say to emerging readers
- questioning to improve comprehension
A few more resources on summary writing:
- get the GIST, from readwritethink
- summary writing, from scholastic
fyi: Huge thanks to the following resources for information here: http://www.corestandards.org/ | Literacy Implementation Guidance for the ELA CCSS | The Washington Post article by Tom Jackman
Related Posts
-
Today we used the bright afternoon to our advantage and did some fence writing and…
-
at home writing center | traveling writing center | teachmama.com
-
I love it when I find a resource that really, truly helps my kids. And…
Adriana Dockery says
February 11, 2018 at 5:11 pmThis is a great idea!
Wendy Hunt says
February 11, 2018 at 8:18 pma great idea! and easy to follow. THank you
Crystal McGhee says
February 13, 2018 at 9:04 amGreat info!!! The handout will really help my students
lAUREN PLUM says
February 13, 2018 at 11:20 amHELLO, CAN YOU PLEASE SEND ME THE SUMMARIZING PAGE. i LOVE THIS CONCEPT! fOR SOME REASON i CANNOT MAKE CAPITALS WITH THIS FONT, AND IT IS DRIVING ME A LITTLE CRAZY :).
Kate Allen says
February 13, 2018 at 1:02 pmThanks!!
R. c. says
February 15, 2018 at 12:11 pmI love that you’ve included the topic sentence with info about the title and author! Thanks!
Kendra DiMino says
February 15, 2018 at 5:57 pmthank you!
ESTHER LEWIS says
February 17, 2018 at 1:20 amEXCELLENT WAY OF TEACHER SUMMARY.
Jennifer says
February 20, 2018 at 1:37 pmGreat idea!
D Rose coppins says
February 20, 2018 at 2:24 pmGreat straregy!
Jennifer Black says
February 21, 2018 at 1:33 pmPlease send me the link to the 1-hand summary page.
Thank you!
amy mascott says
February 21, 2018 at 4:10 pmJennifer! All you have to do is add your email to the box on the post, and the sheet will end up in your inbox! Voila!!
Jennifer DUncan says
February 21, 2018 at 2:14 pmThank you so much for this great article. Would you mind sending me the 1-hand summary sheet? If you are able to send in doc version, that would be great. If not, PDF is also very helpful!
amy mascott says
February 21, 2018 at 4:10 pmJennifer! All you have to do is add your email to the box on the post, and the sheet will end up in your inbox! Voila!!
Cleaster jackson says
February 22, 2018 at 5:42 amTHANK YOU
Cleaster jackson says
February 22, 2018 at 5:43 amLOOKING FOR A WAY TO TEACH SUMMARIZING–THANK YOU
jane barlow says
February 23, 2018 at 8:47 amThis looks like this is just what I need.
Angela says
February 25, 2018 at 4:35 pmCan you please send me the 1-hand summary sheet? i hope it will help my son learn how to write summaries. Thanks!
amy mascott says
February 26, 2018 at 10:31 amPut your name in the box on the post page, and it’ll appear in your inbox!
Kathy says
February 26, 2018 at 10:29 pmSummary sheet please
amy mascott says
February 28, 2018 at 7:38 pmThanks, friend! All you have to do is put your name in the box on the post, and it will end up in your inbox! THANK YOU!
tamara says
February 27, 2018 at 9:32 amCould you please send me the one handed summary?
amy mascott says
February 28, 2018 at 7:38 pmThanks, friend! All you have to do is put your name in the box on the post, and it will end up in your inbox! THANK YOU!
kellie says
February 27, 2018 at 10:22 amthanks
vICTORIA says
February 27, 2018 at 4:33 pmgREAT iDEA!
david wirth says
February 27, 2018 at 7:14 pmhi, we would love a copy of the one hand summary
amy mascott says
February 28, 2018 at 7:38 pmThanks, friend! All you have to do is put your name in the box on the post, and it will end up in your inbox! THANK YOU!
Sharon says
February 28, 2018 at 10:06 amThank you!
mELISSA sANCHEZ says
February 28, 2018 at 5:01 pmloVE THE HAND!
Mary lee says
February 28, 2018 at 5:10 pmwriting summary
Mel says
March 5, 2018 at 9:29 amGreat idea!
patricia lee says
March 5, 2018 at 5:13 pmgreat
Karen Eure says
March 9, 2018 at 9:13 amThank you, very helpful
Sally koll says
March 10, 2018 at 12:50 amPlease send me a copy of the 1 handed summary Thanks in advance!
amy mascott says
March 16, 2018 at 7:47 amThanks, friend! All you have to do is put your name in the box on the post, and it will end up in your inbox! THANK YOU!
irene says
March 10, 2018 at 6:29 amhi , the one hand summary looks brilliant. will definitely try it.
can you send me a copy, pls
thanks.
amy mascott says
March 16, 2018 at 7:47 amThanks, friend! All you have to do is put your name in the box on the post, and it will end up in your inbox! THANK YOU!
Misty Kirn says
March 12, 2018 at 10:16 pmThank you!
kim says
March 13, 2018 at 10:49 amI am interested in your 1-hand summary. Could you please send it to me?
Thanks!
amy mascott says
March 16, 2018 at 7:47 amThanks, friend! All you have to do is put your name in the box on the post, and it will end up in your inbox! THANK YOU!
Jacque says
March 13, 2018 at 12:24 pmMay I please have a copy?
Jacque says
March 13, 2018 at 12:37 pmGreat!! May I please have a copy. Not sure why, but I am unable to use capital letters in this comment box.
JEnna says
March 13, 2018 at 2:21 pmThank you for sending the document!
JEnna says
March 13, 2018 at 2:22 pmlaczayfamily@gmail.com
Wendy Rice says
March 13, 2018 at 4:42 pmneat idea!
Rebecca Hall says
March 15, 2018 at 10:09 pma simple yet effective visual way to teach summary writing.
please send me the 1-hand summary page
amy mascott says
March 16, 2018 at 7:47 amThanks, friend! All you have to do is put your name in the box on the post, and it will end up in your inbox! THANK YOU!
amy mascott says
March 16, 2018 at 8:25 amThanks, friend! All you have to do is put your name in the box on the post, and it will end up in your inbox!
Michael Jones says
September 19, 2018 at 5:04 pmI have been looking for a way to teach summary. This looks like the perfect approach.
julie S says
September 24, 2018 at 4:47 pmI would love the hand resource