Writing Resources

Lesson Plan: Writing A Summary Paragraph

Near Eastern and Judaic Studies 

Objective

To help students understand the form and function of a summary and to prepare them
to write their own summary paragraphs.

Total Estimated Time

50 minutes.

Work Completed Before Class

Students have read a sample summary (i.e., an abstract of an
journal article) along with the article that was summarized.

In class

1.  Ask students about the characteristics of the summary that they read for homework: its structure, what it includes and doesn't include, and whether it was effective. Their responses are recorded on the board.(10-15 minutes)
2. Presentation of the essential characteristics of a summary using an analogy of how we compose summaries in our day-day-lives (e.g., relating a conversation to someone, describing a television episode to someone) and the similarities and differences between these summaries and academic summaries (see .pdf of Summary Writing PowerPoint presentation). Point out differences between descriptive and evaluative writing–How does word choice convey judgment? How can we produce a non-biased summary? (20 minutes).
3. In a class exercise, students put into practice effective summary writing: Students are given handout (see Summary Writing handout) with the elements of a successful summary. Students reread the article summary read for homework. Discuss if their opinion of the summary has changed, and have them identify problems that make it a less effective summary. (This sample summary contains some of the essential aspects of a summary, however, also lacks certain elements: an introduction, transitions/logical flow between its points, and a conclusion.) Class suggests revisions to the summary, such as adding transitions, and you type revisions with a different color font into a .doc copy of the summary, which is being projected for the whole class to see. (For a sample of what this may look like, see document Revised Summary.) (15-20 minutes) 

Molly DeMarco 

Developed at Brandeis University through a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation