Summarising What We Read

Overview

In this fifth lesson of the ten-lesson unit Reading, Writing, Publishing, students move from annotating an article to selecting and expressing its essential information. They use the 5Ws and 1H to organise ideas, practise paraphrasing rather than copying, and complete a supported summary of a student-selected news article.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify the essential information in a news article.
• WALT use the 5Ws and 1H to organise information.
• WALT paraphrase accurately and avoid copying the writer’s wording.
• WALT write a concise summary suited to an audience and purpose.

Success criteria

• I can identify who, what, when, where, why, and how in an article.
• I can distinguish essential information from interesting but unnecessary detail.
• I can rewrite information in my own words without changing its meaning.
• I can produce a clear, accurate summary that includes supporting details from the article.

Curriculum links

• Demonstrate understanding of significant aspects of unfamiliar texts: describe how ideas, language features, purpose, audience, and structure create meaning, using specific evidence.
• Demonstrate understanding of specific aspects of studied text: explain how aspects of a text create engagement and viewpoints, supported by examples.
• Develop ideas in writing using stylistic and written conventions: sequence and develop connected ideas using appropriate vocabulary, syntax, paragraphing, and written accuracy.
• Key Competencies: thinking; using language, symbols, and texts; managing self; participating and contributing.

Lesson structure (90 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook and retrieval. Teacher opens with the hook and lesson question and displays two versions of a short news report: one copied almost word-for-word and one concise paraphrase. Students decide which is more useful to a reader and explain why, then recall the purpose of annotations from the previous lesson.

2. 8–20 min · What makes a summary? Teacher uses the summary features slides to model the difference between a topic, a detail, and a summary; explicitly teach that an effective summary is brief, accurate, neutral, written in the student’s own words, and focused on the article’s central idea. Students annotate a short model, labelling the main idea, essential supporting information, and removable detail.

3. 20–35 min · The 5Ws and 1H. Teacher models reading an unfamiliar news paragraph and completing the 5Ws and 1H grid on the 5Ws and 1H summary worksheet, thinking aloud about which details answer the journalist’s key questions. Students work in pairs to extract information from a second paragraph, justify which details are essential, and compare answers with another pair.

4. 35–48 min · Paraphrasing workshop. Teacher presents the paraphrasing process through the paraphrasing and avoiding-copying slides: read for meaning, cover the original, explain it aloud, write from memory, then check accuracy. Students practise transforming three short sentences on the worksheet, changing sentence structure and vocabulary where appropriate while retaining the original meaning. Teacher conferences with students who remain too close to the source.

5. 48–75 min · Supported article summary. Teacher helps students select an appropriate current news article from the prepared article set or a teacher-approved digital news source, then directs them to complete the planning section of the article-summary planning and drafting section. Students independently annotate or review their article, record the 5Ws and 1H, select the central idea and two or three essential details, and draft a 100–150-word summary. Teacher circulates, checking that students use evidence accurately, avoid opinion, and paraphrase rather than copy.

6. 75–85 min · Peer review and revision. Teacher displays the peer-review questions in the peer-review and revision slides and models giving specific, respectful feedback. Students exchange drafts and check: Is the central idea clear? Are the key facts accurate? Is the wording mostly original? Is unnecessary detail removed? Students revise at least one sentence or detail in response to feedback.

7. 85–90 min · Plenary and exit response. Teacher returns to the opening question using the plenary slide and asks students to complete the final reflection on the summary reflection and exit ticket. Students write one strategy that helped them paraphrase and identify one improvement they will make when summarising an unfamiliar text.

Resources

• the complete summary teaching deck
• the 5Ws and 1H summary worksheet
• Teacher-selected set of age-appropriate news articles
• Student devices or printed articles
• Projector or interactive display
• Highlighters or coloured pencils
• Dictionaries or approved digital dictionaries
• Timer
• Peer-review pens

Assessment

• Listen to pair discussions and check whether students can distinguish central ideas from supporting or interesting details.
• During drafting, use the worksheet to assess accurate retrieval, relevant evidence, paraphrasing, and control of written conventions.
• Collect or photograph the final summary and exit response; identify students needing further support with selecting information, sentence control, or avoiding copied language.

Differentiation

• Support students with a shorter article, pre-highlighted sections, a completed example, and sentence starters such as “The article reports that…” and “This is significant because…”. Allow oral rehearsal before drafting.
• Provide a 5Ws and 1H word bank and clarify unfamiliar vocabulary without supplying the summary itself. Pair EAL students strategically and encourage use of a bilingual or visual dictionary.
• For students with dyslexia, ADHD, or writing difficulties, provide a digital copy, chunk the article into sections, use larger accessible formatting, and allow speech-to-text or typing where appropriate.
• Extend confident writers by asking them to summarise a more complex article in 80–100 words while preserving the central idea and key evidence, or to explain how the article’s purpose and audience influence the information selected.