• Use appropriate tense.

• Make sure to include the author and title of the work.

• Be concise: a summary should not be equal in length to the original text.

• If you must use the words of the author, cite them.

• Don't put your own opinions, ideas, or interpretations into the summary. The purpose of writing a summary is to accurately represent what the author wanted to say, not to provide a critique.

7) Check for accuracy. Reread your summary and make certain that you have accurately represented the author’s ideas and key points. Make sure that you have correctly cited anything directly quoted from the text. Also check to make sure that your text does not contain your own commentary on the piece.

8) Revise. Once you are certain that your summary is accurate, you should (as with any piece of writing) revise it for style, grammar, and punctuation. If you have time, give your summary to someone else to read. This person should be able to understand the main text based on your summary alone. If he or she does not, you may have focused too much on one area of the piece and not enough on the author’s main idea.

2. Gist Writing

GIST stands for Generating Interactions between Schemata and Text

GIST (or Gist) is a comprehension strategy that is used both during reading and after reading. It is one approach to summarizing a text. When using GIST, students create summaries that are 20 words or less for increasingly large amounts of text

How does it work?

1. Define what the "gist" of something is.

2. Read the first paragraph/section of the assigned reading. The size of the section will depend upon the grade level and size of the complete text.

3. Write a 20 word summary that describes the main idea in that section.

4. Read the second paragraph/section of the assigned reading.

5. Write a 20 word summary that combines the material in the first gist statement and the new material.

6. Continue this procedure until a 20 word summary is created for the entire reading.

Tips and Suggestions

*GIST can be used with both expository and narrative text.

*Do not use this strategy with more than 3 paragraphs/sections.

*There are many variations of this strategy that can be used.

*These options may work better for some students because it breaks down the steps in the process so summarizing and combining are two separate parts.

*It will improve reading comprehension as well as summary writing. When using GIST, students must delete trivial information, select key ideas, and generalize in their own words, which are three major strategies necessary for comprehension and retention.

Getting the gist

Read the first two sentences of the following paragraph. Write a summary of the two sentences using no more than 15 words. Read the second two sentences of the paragraph. Write a summary of the two sentences using no more than 15 words.

Proper nutrition is essential for healthy living. The media is filled with information and misinformation about proper nutrition and how to maintain a healthy weight. The U.S. Food Guide Pyramid serves as a guide for what people can eat each day and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The Pyramid includes a variety of foods that enable people to get the nutrients needed to keep their bodies healthy and help them maintain a healthy weight.

Step 1 (First two sentences) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 2 (Second two sentences)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The GIST of this paragraph is

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Read the first two sentences of the next paragraph. Write a summary of the two sentences using no more than 15 words. Read the second two sentences of the paragraph. Write a summary of the two sentences using no more than 15 words.

The Food Guide Pyramid includes information on the types of food that people should consume on a daily basis as well as how much of each food type. The Pyramid includes the “servings” that a person should consume of each food type – however it does not include examples of what a “serving” is. This information is provided separately from the USDA and is important information for students to have when developing healthy eating habits. The Pyramid should be considered only as a guide for identifying the foods people consume. Life experiences, food intolerances, allergies, and even family background and culture impact what people choose to eat. The Pyramid is merely a starting point to determine eating patterns that ensure each person gets the nutrients he/she needs to be healthy.

Step 1 (First two sentences) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 2 (Second two sentences)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 3 (Third two sentences)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The GIST of this paragraph is

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Get the GIST of the entire passage (both paragraphs) by summarizing your GIST sentence from paragraphs one and from paragraph two into one of not more than 15 words.

The GIST of this passage is

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“About Point” Activity Sheet

Read the material from your textbook that your teacher has assigned. Then decide what the passage is Aboutand what details or Points support your answer. Then complete the “About Point” Activity Sheet. You can work with a partner if you want.

This reading is ABOUT

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

and the POINTS are

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