A summary is a brief account of the main points of a concept. In many schools, summaries are taught during the literature course. Learning to summarize is important because it helps the student to memorize what they have read and allows them to easily share what they have learned with others. Although it is a difficult concept to understand, there are several methods by which parents can help their children summarize correctly.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Helping Children of All Ages Understand How to Summarize By Telling Their Day
Step 1. Talk to the children about their days
A good way to help them summarize is to talk to them about the day. Let the children tell everything that happened in a long report while you listen carefully. A long story is the starting point for a summary.
Step 2. Help them focus on a particular event
Ask them to focus on an event of their day and tell about it. To help them, ask them to express it in six basic concepts. This will help the children consider the most important things and summarize them.
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Have them start with the six basic questions: who, what, where, when, how and why.
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For example, if children tell about a task they have done, they will have to say who the teacher was, what the subject was, where they sat, how long it took them to complete the task, and why they think they did it right or wrong.
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Of course, there are situations where it is difficult to answer all six questions, especially the "why". Either way, it's a good thing: the answers to the six questions won't always be found in literature.
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Part 2 of 4: Explain the Summary to the Children with an Example
Step 1. Choose a small story as an example
Choose a short story to make it easier to get started. Choosing a short and not too complex story will allow you to teach the concept of summary without too much effort.
Starting with a complex text would discourage children if they have not yet understood the basics of the summarizing technique
Step 2. Read the text carefully
Teach you to read the entire passage in your head or aloud. Some find it easier to understand a text if they read it aloud, while others have to read it by mind.
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Emphasize the importance of reading the whole text, teach not to read superficially.
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Emphasize the importance of understanding the text as a whole.
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Step 3. Explain what information a summary should contain
An outline could help the children identify which parts to remember. The guidelines will help them structure the summaries as they read and write. There are some key points of a summary:
- The main idea: a central or fundamental theme in the text.
- The important details: all the parts of the text that serve to explain the main concept.
- Beginning of the abstract: links to the beginning of the text and introduces the topic.
- Action: A detail that explains what happened or why it happened.
- Culmination: the point where the story reaches the most interesting point of the plot.
- End: the point where the story ends.
- Important details of the protagonists: their names, characteristics and role.
- Scene details: where and when the action takes place.
Step 4. Show the children where to find the main idea of the story
Using the text you have chosen, show the children the main topic of the story. Explain where to find it and why it is important.
A good tip is to point out that the main topic is usually at the beginning of the story, in the first few paragraphs
Step 5. Identify the most important details
Go through the text with the children and give examples of details to include in the summary. Explain why they are important and ask them why they have chosen certain details.
Ask them to share their thoughts with you and explain why they think some things are more important than others
Step 6. Make a brief summary as an example
In a sentence or two, summarize the text you were working on. The example will show the children how to summarize and what is expected of them.
It explains how to link the main topic with the important details with a brief description
Part 3 of 4: Analyzing a Document with School Age Children
Step 1. Practice summarizing a passage
After the children understand how to identify the most important facts through the six basic questions, it is time to practice summarizing a short passage from a book. It is important that the passage is short enough so that it is easy for them to read it and locate the most important information.
This will allow children not to be discouraged by trying to summarize a long text or a whole chapter of a book
Step 2. Show the children how to find the main topic
Each paragraph has a main topic. It is often found in the first few lines, but it could be anywhere in the paragraph. Once they find the main topic, they will understand what the text is about.
Step 3. Explain the importance of basic details
The rest of each paragraph supports the main idea and provides details. Not all details are important, so only a few should be included in the summary.
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Have the children read the text looking for details that answer the six basic questions.
For example, if it is a historical fact, they will have to identify when it happened, where it happened, etc
Step 4. Use an outline to remember the facts
If a child has difficulty remembering the facts he has taken from the text, he can write them down. The diagrams are a very useful tool, there are some already set up with the six questions, which the children have to answer with the information obtained from the text.
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Some can be found online and printed.
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If you can't print them, you can use them as an example and make them on a sheet.
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Part 4 of 4: Putting Together a Summary with School-Age Children
Step 1. Have the children begin the summary with a key phrase
Once you've identified the most important details, you need to help them write the summary. It should be a meaningful paragraph explaining the topic of the text.
Returning to the example of the historical text, it would be necessary to indicate the name of the event and the year in which it took place
Step 2. Further paragraphs need to be added to provide more details that answer the other six questions
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It is important that the sentences are as concise and precise as possible.
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If the sentences are long, elaborate, more than a summary it is a rewrite of the text.
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Step 3. Ask to reread the summary
When they finish writing they will have to reread to see if it flows smoothly from start to finish. It will then be compared with the original to verify that it contains the general points in a more compact way.
- If the summary is to be evaluated, it must be written correctly in terms of grammar and punctuation.
- If done only as an exercise, correct grammar and punctuation is not essential, but it makes reading easier even after some time.
Step 4. Get them to exercise every day
Since their first summary may be too vague or perhaps too detailed, give your opinion on the quality of their writing by giving them specific suggestions on things they need to improve next time. Not only will it help them improve their writing, but it will prepare them to cope with much more difficult texts when they are older.
