Language Arts · Grade 6

Active learning ideas

Summarizing Informational Texts

Active learning helps students grasp summarizing by engaging them in the process rather than just reading models. When students discuss, compare, and revise summaries together, they internalize the difference between main ideas and minor details more effectively.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.2

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 30 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Summary Refinement

Students read an informational text individually and draft a 4-6 sentence summary. They pair up to exchange drafts, highlight key ideas included, and suggest omissions or revisions. Pairs share one revised summary with the whole class for group vote on effectiveness.

Differentiate between summarizing and paraphrasing an informational text.

Facilitation Tip

During Think-Pair-Share: Summary Refinement, circulate to listen for students' first attempts at summarizing and note common omissions or additions.

What to look for

Provide students with a short informational paragraph. Ask them to write one sentence identifying the central idea and two sentences listing the key details. Review responses to gauge initial understanding.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 45 min · Small Groups

Summary Stations: Genre Rotation

Prepare four stations with different informational texts, such as news articles, biographies, and reports. Small groups visit each station for 8 minutes to read and write a summary on a template. Groups then gallery walk to read and critique others' work.

Explain the importance of objectivity when summarizing a source.

Facilitation Tip

During Summary Stations: Genre Rotation, prepare a timer visible to all groups to keep each station moving efficiently.

What to look for

After students draft a summary of a text, have them exchange summaries with a partner. Provide a checklist: Does the summary include the central idea? Are key details present? Is it objective? Is it concise? Partners initial the summary if it meets criteria or offer one suggestion for improvement.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 35 min · Small Groups

Relay Summaries: Collaborative Chain

Divide a long text into sections for small groups. First student summarizes their section on a shared strip, passes to next who adds connections to the central idea. Continue until complete, then groups present their chained summary.

Construct a summary that accurately reflects the central idea and key details of a text.

Facilitation Tip

During Relay Summaries: Collaborative Chain, model the first summary yourself to set the expected length and tone before students begin.

What to look for

Give each student a different short informational text excerpt. Ask them to write a 3-4 sentence summary. Collect these to assess their ability to identify main ideas and supporting details concisely and objectively.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Summary Mad Libs: Template Fill

Provide cloze-style templates with prompts like 'The main idea is...' and 'Key details include...'. Students fill individually from a text, then swap with a partner to verify accuracy against the original.

Differentiate between summarizing and paraphrasing an informational text.

Facilitation Tip

During Summary Mad Libs: Template Fill, encourage students to read their completed Mad Lib aloud to check for coherence and objectivity.

What to look for

Provide students with a short informational paragraph. Ask them to write one sentence identifying the central idea and two sentences listing the key details. Review responses to gauge initial understanding.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should model summarizing aloud, showing how to select main ideas and drop minor details. Avoid over-explaining the process; instead, let students struggle slightly and resolve confusion through peer discussion. Research shows that when students explain their reasoning to peers, they internalize criteria more deeply than when teachers explain alone.

Students will confidently identify central ideas and key details in informational texts and produce concise, objective summaries. They will recognize and correct misconceptions about summarizing and apply feedback to improve their work.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Think-Pair-Share: Summary Refinement, watch for students who include every detail in their initial summary attempts.

  Have students highlight the central idea in one color and key details in another, then compare with a partner. Direct them to cross out any details that do not directly support the central idea before refining their summaries.

• During Summary Stations: Genre Rotation, watch for students who believe summarizing means rewriting the text in different words without shortening it.

  Ask students to count the words in their summaries and compare them to the original text. Provide a target word count range and have them revise to meet it, focusing on removing redundant phrases.

• During Relay Summaries: Collaborative Chain, watch for students who add personal opinions to their summaries.

  Give groups a biased summary and a neutral summary of the same text. Ask students to identify which version maintains objectivity and explain how word choice affects bias. Then have them revise their own summaries accordingly.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share