How to summarize a text.
A good summary is short because it leaves things out on purpose. The skill is telling the main idea from the supporting detail. Study Butler builds that judgment by asking what the text would lose if a sentence were cut.
Here is what that looks like.
Study Butler will not print the answer. It points at the next step and lets your kid take it.
An example. The butler answers the question with a question.
my summary is basically as long as the article.
then it is a retelling, not a summary. what is the one thing this article is mostly about.
how bees are disappearing.
good. now build around just that, and cut anything that is not holding it up.
Where students get stuck.
The same few mistakes come up again and again. Here is where the butler slows things down.
01Retelling instead of summarizing
A summary leaves out detail on purpose; a retelling keeps it all. Study Butler asks for the single main idea first, then trims toward it.
02Copying sentences from the text
A summary should be in your kid's own words, which is what proves they understood it. The butler has them say it without looking back.
03Including opinions or extra information
A summary reports what the text says, not what your kid thinks about it. Study Butler keeps the two clearly separate.
Bring the problem they're stuck on.
Type it, say it, or snap a photo. Study Butler walks your kid to the answer one question at a time, so they learn it instead of copying it.
Create a free accountQuestions parents ask.
How long should a summary be?
What is the difference between summarizing and retelling?
Keep going.
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