1. Summarizing

2. E NROLL o Discuss as a table: o What was wrong with my weekend story? o What could I have done to make it better?

3. W HAT IS A S UMMARY ? o Definition: Taking a larger selection of text and reducing it to the main ideas worth remembering. o You might call it the “gist” or the “key ideas”. o No details

4. P URPOSE OF S UMMARIZING o It helps us determine essential ideas and the most important details that support them. o It enables us to focus on key words and phrases of a text that are worth noting and remembering.

5. H OW TO WRITE A SUMMARY o Just remember SWBST o Somebody: Identify the main character and important details about them. o Wanted: Describe the character’s goal. o But : Describe the character’s problem or conflict. o So : How did the character try to solve the conflict? o Then: Describe the resolution of the conflict.

6. E XAMPLE FROM “F INDING N EMO ”: Somebo dy WantedButSoThen Marlin, a clown fish whose wife dies and leaves behind only one son, Nemo. Wanted to protect Nemo from everything that could ever harm him. Nemo gets frustrated and decides not to listen to Marlin when told not to touch the butt (boat), resulting in him getting taken by a scuba diver. Marlin has to go on a long journey to try to find Nemo, who is stuck in a fish tank at a Dentist’s office waiting to be given to the Dentist’s niece, Darla. When all hope seems lost, Nemo escapes from the fish tank and is found by Marlin. Marlin learns that you cannot protect children from everything.

7. Y OU T RY ! S UMMARIZE THE STORY SEVENTH GRADE Somebod y WantedButSoThen.

8. Somebod y WantedButSoThen Victor is about to begin his first day of 7 th grade. He is eager to impress a girl named Teresa and make her ‘his girl’. Victor tried to impress her by lying and saying he knew French. When his French teacher tried to speak to him in the foreign language, Victor embarrassed himself in front of the class. Victor’s teacher realized he was trying to impress a girl and didn’t tell Teresa that he didn’t know French. Teresa asks Victor to tutor her in French, so he decided to check out French books from the library.

9. o When writers emphasize or share some of their own personal opinions o Subjective = Some facts and Some opinions o Often found in: o personal essays o autobiographies o editorial section of newspapers where journalists express their opinions about news events. o When writers include only facts and figures. o Objective = Only facts (No opinions) o The purpose of an objective piece of writing is to inform the readers. o Often found in: o Textbooks o Expository papers o Research/ news articles SubjectiveObjective

10. O BJECTIVE S UMMARIES o When writing an objective summary, it is important to write only facts. o If you are unsure if your writing is factual, ask yourself: “Can I find support in the text backs up these facts?” o Do not include thoughts or opinions of the book. o Avoid biased language o For example, writing, “Harry Potter is a talented wizard who is beginning his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry” leads the reader to think Harry is talented. Believing Harry is talented is an opinion. o Instead, write only provable facts, such as: “Harry Potter is a wizard who is beginning his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry”.

11. S UBJECTIVE OR O BJECTIVE ? Directions: For each statement, write “O” for objective or “S” for subjective. 1. Frost Junior High had the highest MAP growth amongst all of the Junior Highs in the district. 2. The Hunger Games is the best book series since Harry Potter. 3. Sparty is the mascot at Frost. Now, change any subjective statements to make them objective.