How do you summarize?

• the most important information of every paragraph - join that into a new paragraph and then take the most important information of the new paragraph you made
• putting the essential point(s) into a simple, short, statement or paragraph.

Here are ways that you can do this:

• look for terms or phrases printed in bold - this means that they are important points
• read the heading of the section and turn it into a question - read to find the information that answers that question
• answer the key questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• break down large ideas into smaller and smaller ones until you have only the most important ideas written
• imagine how you would write this information for a newspaper article
• imagine that you have to pay the classified ads to put this information in the newspaper and use only the most important parts

Here is an example of summarizing:

THE TEXT:

Dinosaurs, one of the most successful groups of animals (in terms of longevity) that have ever lived, evolved into many diverse sizes and shapes, with many equally diverse modes of living. The term "Dinosauria" was invented by Sir Richard Owen in 1842 to describe these "fearfully great reptiles," specifically Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hylaeosaurus, the only three dinosaurs known at the time. The creatures that we normally think of as dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic Era, from late in the Triassic period (about 225 million years ago) until the end of the Cretaceous (about 65 million years ago). But we now know that they actually live on today as the birds.

SUMMARY:

Here are the important terms in this paragraph:

Who: dinosaurs, Sir Richard Owen

What: animals, reptiles, birds

When: Mesozoic Era from 225 million years ago to 65 million years ago, from late Triassic to late Cretaceous - term invented in 1842

Where: not given in this paragraph

Why: dinosaurs were "one of the most successful groups of animals"

Write it out:

Dinosaurs were reptiles. They lived from 225 million years ago until 65 million years ago. This period was called the Mesozoic Era. Sir Richard Owen invented the term Dinosaur in 1852. Dinosaurs were "one of the most successful groups of animals." They evolved into birds.