Ministry of Education
Secondary Engagement Programme
September 2020
WEEK THIRTEEN: Lesson Three
Subject: English A
Grade: Seven
Topic: Summary Writing
Sub-Topic: Identifying main and related ideas
Objective: With the aid of examples, students will correctly identify the main idea in passages
Concept: Summarizing teaches students how to discern the most important ideas in a text, how
to ignore irrelevant information, and how to integrate the central ideas in a meaningful way.
Teaching students to summarize improves their memory for what is read. Summarization
strategies can be used in almost every content area.
Content
Summary Writing
What is a summary?
A summary is a condensed or shortened version of a piece of writing, or speech which gives the
reader the gist or main points.
A summary presents the basic meaning (core idea) of a longer stretch (piece) of information in
language that is different from the original. It does not change the emphasis to the original piece
of information. It is concise, coherent and readable.
What are the main features of a summary?
1. It is shorter than the original
2. It reflects the gist or the most important points of the message. It retains the essential
meaning in the fewest words possible.
3. It uses language different from the original, that is, it expresses the main ideas in new
words.
4. It can stand on its own. It is coherent and unified.
What are the uses of a summary?
1. To write to someone about an interesting newspaper article or story, emphasizing the
main points.
2. To transmit information from various sources in condense form – advertisement,
brochures, official documents, reports, etc.
3. To report on the content of a speech, argument, discussion or meeting.
Summary writing techniques:
- Selecting the main idea
- Combining the main ideas
- Omitting examples
- Deleting statistical data
- Using concise language
- Omitting repetition
- Determining writer’s intention
How to use summarizing techniques
1. Begin by reading the text selection.
2. Ask the following framework questions:
- What are the main ideas?
- What are the crucial details necessary for supporting the ideas?
- What information is irrelevant or unnecessary?
- Have them use key words or phrases to identify the main points from the text.
Example
What is the main idea in the passage below?
Yellowstone National Park is mainly located in Wyoming, although three percent is located in
the state of Montana. The Continental Divide of North America runs diagonally through the
southwestern part of the park. The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau, which is an average
elevation of 8,000 feet above sea level. This plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain
ranges. There are 290 waterfalls that are at least fifteen feet in the park, the highest being the
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, which falls 308 feet.
Main idea
The paragraph is about physical features of Yellowstone
Exercise
Main Idea
Directions: Read each passage and ask yourself, "What is the author doing in this paragraph?"
Write your answer in the summary box.
1. A penny for your thoughts? If it’s a 1943 copper penny, it could be worth as much as
fifty thousand dollars. In 1943, most pennies were made out of steel since copper was
needed for World War II, so the 1943 copper penny is ultra-rare. Another rarity is the
1955 double die penny. These pennies were mistakenly double stamped, so they have
overlapping dates and letters. If it’s uncirculated, it’d easily fetch $25,000 at an auction.
Now that’s a pretty penny.
Summarize this paragraph in one sentence. Be specific and clearly explain the main idea.
2. Before you put on that skeleton costume and rove door-to-door pandering for candy, take
a minute to reflect on this tradition. Halloween is believed to have come from an ancient
Celtic festival dating back some 2,000 years. November 1st was the Celtic New Year and
marked the end of summer to the Celts. They celebrated on its eve by wearing costumes
made of animal skins and dancing around bon fires. Over the next two millennia, this
primitive celebration grew to be the candy fueled costume ball that we know today.
Summarize this paragraph in one sentence. Be specific and clearly explain the main idea.
3. When one hears the term "reality" applied to a show, one might expect that the events
portrayed occurred naturally or, at the least, were not scripted. This is not always the
case. Many reality shows occur in unreal environments, like rented mansions occupied
by film crews. Such living environments do not reflect what most people understand to
be "reality." Worse, there have been accusations that events not captured on film were
later restaged by producers. Worse still, some involved in the production of "reality"
television claim that the participants were urged to act out story lines premeditated by
producers. With such accusations floating around, it's no wonder many people take
reality TV to be about as real as the sitcom.
Summarize this paragraph in one sentence. Be specific and clearly explain the main idea.
4. It is estimated that over twenty million pounds of candy corn are sold in the US each
year. Brach’s, the top manufacturer, sells enough candy corn to circle the earth 4.25 times
if each piece were laid end to end. That’s a lot of candy corn, but that’s nothing
compared to the production of Tootsie Rolls. Over 64 million Tootsie Rolls are produced
every day! But even Tootsie Rolls have got nothing on the candy industry’s staple
product: chocolate. Confectioners manufacture over twenty billion pounds of chocolate in
the United States each year. Now that’s a mouthful!
Summarize this paragraph in one sentence. Be specific and clearly explain the main idea.
Answer Sheet
1. This paragraph is about rear and valuable pennies
2. This paragraph is about the origin of Halloween
3. This paragraph is about how reality television isn’t always ‘real’.
4. This paragraph is about how much of popular candies are produced each year.
