Making summaries Comprehension Toolkit

Comprehension means understanding. The answers to some questions are easy to find, while the answers to others are more difficult to work out. The best way to understand a text is to ask yourself questions as you read it.

Comprehension Toolkit When collecting information from a text, you need to separate the important points from the minor details. What are the important points in this text? Many creatures in stories are mythical. This means that they are not real, and never have been. These strange creatures often have special powers. You can summarise the text by using these words in a sentence: Mythical creatures with special powers are not real and never have been.

Comprehension Toolkit Imagine you must write a report about what is used to build homes. Read this text about homes and find words, phrases or sentences to use in your report. Over time, homes have changed in size, materials and design. They are where we live, eat and sleep. Homes are different all over the world. In the past, homes were mainly built from wood, stone and bricks. They used to be made with local materials, but new materials, such as concrete and steel, meant that builders could make much taller buildings. Inside the home has also changed. New appliances, such as fridges, washing machines, TVs and computers are now common.

Comprehension Toolkit The only words, phrases or sentences that are important for your task are In the past, homes were mainly built from wood, stone and bricks; new materials and concrete and steel. The other information about homes is unnecessary. Use these words to summarise the text in a sentence. In the past, homes were built mainly from wood, stone and bricks, but nowadays builders also use concrete and steel to construct homes.

Comprehension Toolkit