The 5-Step Summary Plan

This lesson gives you a recipe. Five steps, every single time. Once you know them, any text becomes easy to summarise.

Step one: read the text twice. The first time to enjoy it, the second time to hunt for the big idea. Step two: ask yourself, what is this mostly about? Answer that in one sentence before you write anything.

Step three: underline the key words. Not every word, just the ones that carry the meaning. Step four: cross out examples, extra names and anything that repeats. If it does not change the big idea, it goes.

Step five: write it. Here the text was sixty two words and the limit was twenty five. So we keep the class, the aquarium and the turtle, and let everything else go. Counting words is part of the job.

Watch the word limit. If the question says twenty five words, aim for twenty to twenty five. Going over the limit loses marks, even if your sentence is beautiful.

That is your recipe. Read twice, ask what it is mostly about, keep the key words and cut the extras. Then write it in your own words and count. Practise with the quiz now!