building our summary skills LT: I can review my summary scores and the summary rubric and write down three things I want to improve upon in my next summary assessment.

Review the project At AMHS, we have a building-wide goal that each of our students improves his/her summary writing abilities by the end of the year Being able to write a clear summary will help you in your classes, on tests and in the workplace Summarizing is also a key step in reading comprehension If you can relay the main ideas of a passage back to someone else, then you really understand the passage well

review the project In September, you were given an article in your second period class to read and summarize You will be given your scores back today You will have opportunities in your classes to practice summarizing, plus two more chances to improve on this school-wide assessment

summary rubrics (scoring guide) Let’s go through the rubric that was used to score your summary from September Here is a clean copy of it Here is your original work and your score. We will go through each part of the rubric together and you can compare your rubric to your summary to see how you earned your scores

summary rubric--Topic sentence for Freshmen To earn the full points, you needed to: Name the article’s title and author Use an active verb to describe the writer’s purpose (see handout for list) Finish your topic sentence with the main idea of the text Top Scoring Example: In “The History of Egypt’s Pyramids,” Mike Parker explains how and why the pyramids were built between 2575 BC and 2150 BC. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--Topic sentence for sophomores To earn the full points, you needed to: Name the article’s title and author Use an active verb to describe the writer’s purpose (see handout for list) Finish your topic sentence with the main idea of the text Top Scoring Example: In “Grade 10 Summary Document,” Darshan Kadu illustrates the importance of human rights and how some countries are trying to protect human rights. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--Topic sentence for juniors To earn the full points, you needed to: Name the article’s title and author Use an active verb to describe the writer’s purpose (see handout for list) Finish your topic sentence with the main idea of the text Top Scoring Example: In “Grade 11 Summary Document” Nikita Khrushchev writes to the U.S. president about the USSR’s involvement in Cuba and the USA’s involvement in Turkey. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--Topic sentence for seniors To earn the full points, you needed to: Name the article’s title and author Use an active verb to describe the writer’s purpose (see handout for list) Finish your topic sentence with the main idea of the text Top Scoring Example: The article titled “What is Civic Engagement” by Nels Lindahl defines civic participation and why it is needed. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

Key Fact Highlighting The teacher who scored your summary highlighted your facts in three different colors so it would be easier for you to see If you have three different colored highlighted sentences, bravo--you did it! If you have less than three, then you may have missed some of the key details or your details may have not been the most important ones Let’s look at specifically how we want you to write those sentences

facts should be paraphrased In your summary writing, always paraphrase the facts you include Paraphrasing means you’ve completely re-written the information into your own words Paraphrasing can be difficult because requires you to think carefully about the ideas presented in the text Paraphrasing requires you to really understand the text and often requires you to re-read the text multiple times

summary rubric--first fact for Freshmen To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with a transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase an important fact from the article that supports the main idea that you stated in your topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: First, the author says that pyramids were built to house the pharaoh's bodies because Egyptians thought of their kings as gods. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--first fact for sophomores To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with a transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase an important fact from the article that supports the main idea that you stated in your topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: First, the author defines human rights as the right to life, speech, freedom and justice no matter your caste, creed, color, race or nationality. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--first fact for juniors To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with a transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase an important fact from the article that supports the main idea that you stated in your topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: First, Khrushchev writes the US has surrounded the USSR with bases and weapons, and he doesn’t think that it is fair for the US to ask the USSR to remove their weapons from Cuba when the US has done this. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--first fact for seniors To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with a transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase an important fact from the article that supports the main idea that you stated in your topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: First, the author says civic engagement helps us think about how government, society, and people interact. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--second fact for Freshmen To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with another transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase an important fact from the article that supports the main idea that you stated in your topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: Then, the writer says that the first pyramid was built for King Djoser between BC. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--second fact for sophomores To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with another transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase an important fact from the article that supports the main idea that you stated in your topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: Next the writer explains one problem with human rights is that each country defines them differently and has it’s own idea of how important it is to protect human rights How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--second fact for juniors To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with another transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase an important fact from the article that supports the main idea that you stated in your topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: Then, he proposes to remove the weapons from Cuba if the US removes its weapons from Turkey under the watch of the U.N Security Council. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--second fact for seniors To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with another transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase an important fact from the article that supports the main idea that you stated in your topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: Then, Lindahl writes that civic participation through voting, volunteering, campaigning and discussing issues benefits society. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--Third fact for Freshmen To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with another transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase a third and final important fact from the article that supports the topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: Finally, Parker writes that pyramids were not built by slaves but by workers living in villages on site. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--Third detail for sophomores To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with another transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase a third and final important fact from the article that supports the topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: Finally, the writer says many human rights violations occur in various countries and it is the duty of every government to make sure human rights are not violated. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--Third fact for juniors To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with another transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase a third and final important fact from the article that supports the topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: Finally, he says the US and the USSR should make a statement saying they have no intention of intervening in Cuba or Turkey. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

summary rubric--Third detail for seniors To earn the full points, you needed to: begin your sentence with another transition word/phrase--see handout for list paraphrase a third and final important fact from the article that supports the topic sentence paraphrase = your own words, not a quote Top Scoring Example: Finally, he explains how people can be involved in civic engagement through place, ideas and circumstances. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

Extra Facts? For the sake of this summary assessment, we just want you to find three main facts/details You may have been marked down a point for including other facts beyond the three Please note: Sometimes in other summaries you write in your classes, you may be asked to include more than three details if the article is particularly long

Summary Rubric--Concluding sentence for freshmen To earn the full points, you needed to: Restate the main idea of the article using different words (synonyms) Write a complete sentence Top Scoring Example: In conclusion, this article discusses the history and purpose of the ancient Egyptian pyramids. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

Summary Rubric--Concluding sentence for sophomores To earn the full points, you needed to: Top Scoring Example: In conclusion, this article discussed why human rights are important and how different countries handle human rights. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

Summary Rubric--Concluding sentence for juniors To earn the full points, you needed to: Restate the main idea of the article using different words (synonyms) Write a complete sentence Top Scoring Example: In his letter, Khrushchev has offered what he sees as acceptable agreement between the US and the USSA over the conflicts in Cuba and Turkey. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

Summary Rubric--Concluding sentence for Seniors To earn the full points, you needed to: Restate the main idea of the article using different words (synonyms) Write a complete sentence Top Scoring Example: All in all, the writer says people need to be educated about civic engagement and know that it is the key to bettering our county. How did you do? What do you need to do differently next time to improve your score?

General Summary Tips Do not put your own opinion into your summary Remember not to write an overly detailed summary--the goal of a summary is to reduce the text to its essence Use your own voice--do not imitate the style of the text Use paraphrases rather than direct quotes Preserve the balance and proportion of the text if 70% of the text is about one idea, then 70% of your summary should be able that idea

Academic Language For Summaries--take notes Use transition phrases to tie each point back to the text and to re-emphasize that it was the author who said each point These phrases help remind your reader that you are writing a summary of someone else’s ideas For example, if you were summarizing a class syllabus, you might write: Coleman states late work is not acceptable. Coleman provides specific details about the semester’s assignments.

Academic Language For Summaries--take notes Some sample transitions you can use in your summary First the author… The author begins by stating that users should… He then points out that… In the second part of the article… In the final section of the article, the author suggests …(signals an end!)

Academic language for summaries--take notes Some ways you can phrase topic sentences: 1. (The author) states in (the article) that… 2. (The author), in (the article) shows that… 3. In (the article), (the author) writes that… 4. As (the author) says in (this article), The main idea of (the author’s article) is...

What Do You Want To Remember for Next Time? Take another look at your first summary scores and look through your notes from today to help you pick things that will improve your scores. On your summary or on a sticky note, write down the top three things you want to remember to do this time around to improve your scores. Share Out: What did you write down?

Ready to Try it again? I’ve got another article for you to read and summarize Use a highlighter to highlight the main points as you read. This will save you time and energy when it comes time to write your summary After you read the article, write a summary using the tips we discussed today

Notes for teachers: Now, pass out the article and give students time to read and highlight key ideas before they write their next summary. You can sub out the article provided with something more content/unit specific for your class.

Places to find articles: DoGo Scholastic online Time for Kids USA Today newsela