How to begin a summary Write a topic sentence (or 2) that sums up overall message or point of the beginning, middle and end of entire piece. beginning middle End Overall Point

A clear topic sentence identifies who and what you are about to summarize BEFORE launching into the overall point. "President Obama gave a speech on the first day of school to..."

Review main idea paraphrases for each page Combine similar ideas into single sentence “Many folks are responsible for getting kids educated” P. 2 “Many contribute to student success” p. 3 “Many folks are responsible for getting kids educated” P. 2 “Many contribute to student success” p. 3 Combined summary of one point: The President noted that successfully educating students involves many people working together.

Review DETAILS Combine the most important details into supporting sentences for your main ideas. DELETE less important specifics DETAILS-- Teachers: motivate students/don’t bore them Parents: keep kids on task/no Xbox or TV during HW Gov: Set clear standards of what to teach Kids: need to be responsible for selves or other effort wasted. DETAILS-- Teachers: motivate students/don’t bore them Parents: keep kids on task/no Xbox or TV during HW Gov: Set clear standards of what to teach Kids: need to be responsible for selves or other effort wasted. Combine as: “Teachers, parents, and the government all need to do their best to help kids, but each student has to try for the combined efforts to work.”

Write between 2-4 sentences to summarize each page. When done, review your summary and your original notes. Any more you can combine? Need to add a short detail to clarify something? Do the most significant ideas come through your summary

Great summaries sift LOTS of words to filter down to the “BIG Picture”