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Year 5 · English · Literacy

Summarising texts

Identifying the key ideas in a text and retelling them briefly in your own words, leaving out minor details.

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These lessons were written around Australian Curriculum strands and matched to UK year groups by age (Year 1 is the year a child turns 6 in England). They are not mapped to the National Curriculum in England or the curricula of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, so check them against your own plans.

Learning goals

Learners will

  • Identify the key ideas in an informative text and a short story.
  • Separate key ideas from minor details.
  • Write a brief summary in their own words.

Success looks like

  • I can find the key ideas in each paragraph.
  • I can leave out small details and examples.
  • I can write a summary that is much shorter than the text and uses my own words.

The big idea

A summary is a short version of a text that gives only the key ideas. Summarising shows that a reader truly understands what they have read, and it is a skill used in every subject.

Read this text: 'Sea turtles spend almost their whole lives in the ocean. They have flippers instead of feet, which make them strong swimmers. Some sea turtles travel thousands of kilometres each year to find food. However, female turtles return to land to lay their eggs. At night, a female crawls up a sandy beach, digs a hole and lays around one hundred eggs. About two months later, the hatchlings dig their way out and race to the sea.'

A good summary follows three steps:

  • Find the key ideas. Ask, 'What is each part mostly about?' Here: turtles live in the ocean and swim long distances; females lay eggs on beaches; the babies hatch and go to the sea.
  • Cut the minor details. Numbers, examples and descriptions such as 'around one hundred eggs' or 'at night' are interesting but not essential.
  • Write it in your own words. Combine the ideas into one or two sentences. Do not copy whole sentences from the text.

A possible summary: 'Sea turtles live in the ocean and can swim very long distances, but females come ashore to lay their eggs on beaches, and the babies hatch and head back to the sea.' That is about 30 words instead of about 70.

For a story, a summary tells who the main character is, the problem and how it is solved. The 'Somebody wanted, but, so, then' frame helps: Somebody (character) wanted (goal) but (problem) so (what they did) then (ending).

Worked examples

Key idea or minor detail?

In the turtle text, is 'They have flippers instead of feet' a key idea or a minor detail?

  1. Ask: would the reader still understand the main message without it?
  2. Yes. The main message is about where turtles live and how they lay eggs.
  3. The flippers sentence explains why they are good swimmers, which is supporting information.

Answer: It is a minor detail and can be left out of a short summary.

Summarising a story

Summarise: 'Ella's bike tyre went flat on the way to the library. She had no pump. She pushed the bike the rest of the way, and the librarian lent her a pump from the back room. Ella rode home happily with three new books.'

  1. Somebody: Ella.
  2. Wanted: to ride to the library.
  3. But: her tyre went flat and she had no pump.
  4. So: she pushed the bike there and the librarian lent her a pump.
  5. Then: she rode home happily.

Answer: When Ella's bike tyre went flat on the way to the library, she pushed it there and the librarian lent her a pump so she could ride home.

Turning copied words into own words

Rewrite in your own words: 'the hatchlings dig their way out and race to the sea.'

  1. Find the meaning: baby turtles come out of the sand and go to the water.
  2. Use different words: 'the babies climb out of the nest and head for the ocean'.
  3. Check that the meaning has not changed.

Answer: The babies climb out of the nest and head for the ocean.

Practice check

Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.

  1. 1.Which is the best summary of the sea turtle text?
  2. 2.Which of these is a minor detail that could be left out of a summary of the turtle text?
  3. 3.A good summary is…
  4. 4.Which question helps you find the key ideas in a text?
  5. 5.Which is the best one-sentence summary of the Ella story?
  6. 6.In the turtle text, where do female turtles lay their eggs?
  7. 7.What word does the turtle text use for the baby turtles? Type one word.
  8. 8.In the 'Somebody wanted, but, so, then' frame, which word introduces the problem? Type the word.
Answer guide for parents

  1. Which is the best summary of the sea turtle text?

    Sea turtles live and travel in the ocean, but females lay their eggs on beaches, and the babies hatch and go to the sea. — It covers all the key ideas briefly. The other options are single details.

  2. Which of these is a minor detail that could be left out of a summary of the turtle text?

    A female lays around one hundred eggs. — The number of eggs is an interesting detail, but the summary makes sense without it.

  3. A good summary is…

    shorter than the original and in your own words — A summary is brief and paraphrased.

  4. Which question helps you find the key ideas in a text?

    What is this mostly about? — Asking what a text or paragraph is mostly about points you to the key ideas.

  5. Which is the best one-sentence summary of the Ella story?

    Ella's tyre went flat on the way to the library, but the librarian lent her a pump so she could ride home. — It includes the character, the problem and the solution.

  6. In the turtle text, where do female turtles lay their eggs?

    on a sandy beach — 'A female crawls up a sandy beach, digs a hole and lays around one hundred eggs.'

  7. What word does the turtle text use for the baby turtles? Type one word.

    hatchlings — 'The hatchlings dig their way out and race to the sea.'

  8. In the 'Somebody wanted, but, so, then' frame, which word introduces the problem? Type the word.

    but — Somebody wanted…, but (the problem)…, so…, then…. The word 'but' introduces the problem.

Watch out for

  • Retelling everything in order instead of choosing key ideas. Remind your child that a summary should be much shorter than the original.
  • Copying sentences straight from the text. Cover the text before writing so the words come out in your child's own way.
  • Including personal opinions ('I liked the turtles best'). A summary reports what the text says, not what the reader thinks.

Tips for parents

  • After a movie or a chapter, ask your child to tell you what happened in three sentences or fewer.
  • Set a word limit (for example 30 words). A limit forces careful choices.
  • Model it yourself: summarise a news item or a recipe out loud for your child.

Go further

  • Write a 'tweet-length' summary of a book you have finished: no more than 25 words.
  • Summarise each chapter of a novel in one sentence and keep a running chapter log.
  • Swap summaries with a family member and see if each of you can guess which text the other summarised.

About 45 minutes

Make a lesson planAssign to my child

You'll need

  • The sea turtle text (below), printed or copied out
  • A highlighter and a pencil
  • A short non-fiction article or a chapter from a book your child is reading

Key words

summary
A short version of a text that gives only the key ideas, in your own words.
summarise
To retell the most important ideas of a text briefly.
key idea
An important point that the text could not do without.
minor detail
An extra fact, number or example that is interesting but not essential.
paraphrase
To say something in your own words without changing its meaning.
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