English
Good morning everyone.
Today I would like us to learn about summarising.
Before we begin....
What is a Summary?
A summary is a brief re-telling or account
of the main points of a piece of writing, action or event. It doesn't include all the details and so is short and to the point. There are a number
of techniques to use for summarising which can help you identify the important
parts of a passage of text.
Having this skill is ideal for assignments or
examination preparation when you are older.
Read the information below to learn how to summarise.
Watch the video below to learn about summarising different texts.
Now its your turn.
Can you summarise the text below?
1. Read the text and chapter heading carefully.
2. Highlight the important words/repeated ideas.
3.Think / write about the answers to the questions
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
4. Read the text again.
5. Cover the text or turn over your paper and try to write a short version of all the important parts of the text- the key/main points.
Reflection
Can you fit your summary on a post-it note?
How many sentences did you need to summarise the text?
Did you get all the main points?
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
John Boyne
Chapter 1: Bruno Makes a Discovery
One afternoon, when Bruno came home from school, he was surprised to find Maria, the family’s maid – who always kept her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet – standing in his bedroom, pulling all his belongings out of the wardrobe and packing them in four large wooden crates, even the things he’d hidden at the back that belonged to him and were nobody’s else’s business. ‘What are you doing?’ he asked in as polite a tone as he could muster, for although he wasn’t happy to come home and find someone going through his possessions, his mother had always told him that he was to treat Maria respectfully and not just imitate the way Father spoke to her. ‘You take your hands off my things.’ Maria shook her head and pointed towards the staircase behind him, where Bruno’s mother had just appeared. She was tall woman with long red hair that she bundled into a sort of net behind her head, and she was twisting her hands together nervously as if there was something she didn’t want to have to say or something she didn’t want to have to believe. ‘Mother,’ said Bruno, marching towards her, ‘what’s going on? Why is Maria going through my things?’ ‘She’s packing them,’ explained Mother. ‘Packing them?’ he asked, running quickly through the events of the previous few days to consider whether he’d been particularly naughty or had used those words out loud that he wasn’t allowed to use and was being sent away because of it. He couldn’t think of anything though. In fact over the last few days he had behaved in a perfectly decent manner to everyone and couldn’t remember causing any chaos at all. ‘Why?’ he asked then. ‘What have I done?’
