Summarizing

We've been learning how to write summaries of fiction texts.  We talked about why people summarize books, tv shows, movies, events and experiences, and what makes a good summary. Here is the criteria we came up with:

• a summary is brief
• it includes only the important details from the beginning, middle and end of the text
• it leaves out minor details that are irrelevant 
• it is organized in a logical order (chronologically)
• it is written in your own words
• it might include some inferences 
• it is written in present tense

Here is one for "Outside the Gates," a historical story we read, discussed and summarized together.

We'll continue reading short historical fiction texts the next couple of weeks. Along with some stories to mark Remembrance Day, here are some other titles we will be reading and summarizing:

Two Dollars

The Boy of the Deeps

The Wreck of the Dispatch

Storm at Batoche

You can practice summarizing at home by asking your son or daughter to summarize the chapter they read that night or an article they read on the computer.