One of the most important parts to reading comprehension is being able to summarize what you have read. Only through understanding what you have read will you be able to create a good summary.
What is “Summarizing?”
Summarization is the ability to understand the information that you receive and then be able to retell the most important parts in your own words. It is always shorter and concise. The main ideas need to be summarized; all of the little details are not important. You just want the facts. Let’s read this passage:
Last Saturday was very busy for me. I had to run a lot of errands all over the city. I first went to the dentist to have a check-up and then went to the bank to deposit some money. After that, I drove to the store. The parking lot was full of people. I wanted to buy bananas, cheese, and milk, but because I couldn’t find a parking spot, I decided to go shopping on a different day. When I got home, I made dinner for all of my students. It was a great party.
What are the important facts in this passage?
Strategies for Summarizing a Reading
| Ask yourself, “What is the focus of this reading?” | Knowing the topic of what you are reading will help you summarize. In the passage above, the overall theme was a very busy Saturday, so you should restate information that supports that topic. |
| Look for the facts! | What are the main points that support the focus? These are the facts and are what you should have in a good summary. |
| Don’t get lost in the details. | If you are summarizing a television show, you want to mention what the characters did and what happened to them. Do not add the kind of shoes the characters were wearing or the commercials that aired during the show to the summary. It is not important to the story and would be confusing. |
| Does it make sense? | Lastly, can other people understand your summary? When something is summarized, it should be a basic overview, and after reading it, a person will understand the main idea. |
Unlock full access by logging in. Registered users can explore the entire lesson and more.