WRITING A SUMMARY What is a summary? How do you write one? Copyright © 2015 The Teacher Writing Center, a division of SG Consulting, Inc. 

Warm-Up Look at the picture. What do you see?

Discuss Response What is the main idea? What are some details?

Main Ideas vs. Details

Main idea: Sick woman is making a phone call. Details: Woman is years old, has a pink ice pack on her head, and a blue blanket wrapped around her shoulders; she is holding a green cup and using a corded yellow phone.

You summarized the picture! When you identify the main idea(s) of a something – in this case a picture – you are summarizing.

What is a summary? In writing, a summary is a short version of a longer text. A summary tells the main ideas of the longer reading, but leaves out most of the details. It only includes information from the text. You do not include your opinions.

How long is a summary? A summary is often only a few sentences.

Are there other names for a summary? Yes. Sometimes people will use the following words as synonyms for summary:  Abstract  Executive Summary  Précis

Let’s practice summarizing a text.  What kind of text is it? Hint: Is it fiction or nonfiction?  What are the main ideas? Hint: Look at the title, images, and subheadings.  What is the purpose of the text? Hint: Does it aim to inform, amuse, or persuade?

Sample answers to the questions.  What kind of text is it? nonfiction article  What are the main ideas? describes how glaciers are formed and tells where they are found  What’s the purpose of the text? to inform

Now let’s summarize it in writing. Using information from the answers to the previous questions, here is a sample summary of this text: Summary This one-page nonfiction article provides information about how glaciers are formed and where they are located in the world.

In summary …

For Reference and More Practice … Refer to the Writing a Summary Student Reference Sheet.Writing a Summary