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.

• Grade 6
• Language Arts
• 4 activities
• 25 min–45 min

Learning Objectives

1. Identify the central idea and key supporting details in a Grade 6 informational text.
2. Compare and contrast summarizing with paraphrasing an informational text.
3. Explain the importance of objectivity when condensing information from a source.
4. Construct a concise summary that accurately reflects the main points of an informational text.
5. Evaluate the effectiveness of a summary based on its accuracy, conciseness, and objectivity.

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.

Prepare & details

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.

Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor

Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs

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

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.

Prepare & details

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.

Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor

Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs

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

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.

Prepare & details

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.

Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor

Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs

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

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.

Prepare & details

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.

Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor

Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs

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

Teaching This Topic

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.

What to Expect

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.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

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

What to Teach Instead

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.

Common Misconception

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

What to Teach Instead

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.

Common Misconception

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

What to Teach Instead

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.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

After providing students with a short informational paragraph, ask them to write one sentence identifying the central idea and two sentences listing the key details. Collect these to assess initial understanding before moving to partner work.

Peer Assessment

After students draft a summary of a text at Summary Stations: Genre Rotation, 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.

Exit Ticket

After Summary Mad Libs: Template Fill, 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.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge early finishers to summarize a text in exactly 10 words or fewer, then compare their versions in small groups to discuss trade-offs between brevity and completeness.
• Scaffolding for struggling students: Provide a partially completed summary with blanks for central idea and key details, then have them fill in the missing parts using the text.
• Deeper exploration: Ask students to analyze how their summaries change when they remove one key detail and explain why that detail matters to the central idea.

Key Vocabulary

Central Idea	The main point or message the author is trying to convey about a topic in an informational text.
Key Details	Important pieces of information that support or explain the central idea of a text.
Summary	A brief restatement of the most important points of a text, in your own words and in a shorter form.
Paraphrase	To restate information from a source in your own words, but usually of similar length to the original, focusing on rewording rather than condensing.
Objectivity	Presenting information without personal opinions, biases, or feelings, focusing only on the facts and ideas presented by the author.