'Summarising' tutor notes

Aspects of summarising in this module:

• Summarising
• When and why
• Things to consider
• Conventions / rules / tips.

The aim of the 'summarising' topic area is for learners to identify when to summarise text and why. They will also learn what to consider when summarising and what conventions, rules and tips they should adapt when summarising.

Other areas on the site that tie in with this module are the following:
Skimming Module - Improve your reading by learning how to skim texts quickly to see what they are about.
Scanning Module  - Looking for some specific information? Improve your reading by learning how to scan texts quickly.

How does this tie in with the curriculums?

• England
  Rt/L1.1 - 'Recognise how language and other textual features are used to achieve different purposes' (e.g. to instruct, explain, describe, persuade)
  Wt/L1.3 - 'Use language suitable for purpose and audience.'
  
  NB: Skillswise resources are designed for students at level 1.
  The material in the types of text module only covers 4 main types of text as it was felt that this was a good basis for textual understanding at level 1. Other text types and varieties of texts can be incorporated at a higher level once general understanding has been established.
  
• Wales
  As England.
• Northern Ireland
  As England.
• Scotland
  See www.aloscotland.com for details of the Scottish curriculum.

In the Skillswise module you'll find:

'Summarising' factsheets
There are 3 factsheets for this module, each on 'print-out-and-keep' sheets:

• What is summarising?
• Hints for summarising text.
• Glossary of terms.

'Summarising' worksheets
There are 5 factsheets for this module, each on 'print-out-and-keep' sheets:

• Are the statements true or false?
• Write your own advert.
• Writing about an event.
• Create a poster.
• Write a book review.

If you have any great worksheets ideas that practise summarising, let us know. We are always interested in finding good worksheets to publish on the site.

Virtual Traveller game
Learners should listen to a short or long version of an audio recording about a trip from around the globe. As they listen, learners may like to jot down notes to use when summarising their trip. Audio transcripts of the trips can be found here:
Cornwall: long    short
Diving in the Great Barrier Reef: long   short
Amazon trek: long   short
New York: long   short
Egyptian pyramids: long   short

Technical help:

To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':

• Flash
  The game in this topic section uses Flash. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
  Find out more.

If you don't have Flash the same learning points are covered in the quiz and in the worksheets and factsheets.
If you are new to the web, why not try the BBC WebWise online course, Becoming WebWise? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Get WebWise.

You can find out more about the technical requirements for Skillswise in our Help - Technical Information section.

Taking it further:

With Skillswise:
Don't forget to check out the Skillswise Lesson plans and Teaching inspirations areas for more ideas about summarising.
If you have any worksheets or ideas about teaching summarising don't forget to share! Just email us at skillswise.feedback@bbc.co.uk.

On the web:
Here's a few suggestions of other places on the web. You might find useful resources to adapt or use for teaching about different types of text.

• Skills workshop
  A useful site broken down into adult basic skills curriculum points. Go to the text focus section, then scroll down the reading column until you get to level 1 resources. The site has various printable worksheets and lesson ideas that deal with text focus and reading.
• City University of New York
  Although this is taken from an American university website, there are three good interactive summerising exercises here that could be used or adapted. Students can write about what they did last month, explore summarising with a 'Try your hand' exercise, or follow a step by step summarising exercise.
• Reading Quest
  This is another American university website (from Virginia) that offers free resources in reading comprehension. The basis of their 'Sum it up' sheet can be abridged as an exercise.

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.

Do you know of any other great online resources for summarising? Let us know if you do.