A summary keeps the key points and drops the detail. It must be shorter than the original and in your own words.
Read the passage and mark the main points. Ignore examples, repeated ideas, quotations and decoration. Group related points. Then write them in your own words, in connected sentences, within the word limit.
Write in full sentences; avoid copying whole phrases; use one linking word to join ideas (because, so, which led to); do not add opinions; keep to the limit; and re-read to check the points are accurate.
In a summary you should write:
Which should usually be left out of a summary?
A summary should include:
Which phrase best replaces “apples, pears and oranges”?
Which word links a cause and an effect?
Points in a summary should be:
A summary is limited to 120 words. Your draft has 156 words.
How many words must you cut?
Enter an exact answer, without rounding.The original passage has 600 words and the summary must be one quarter of that length.
How many words may the summary have?
Enter an exact answer, without rounding.Which is NOT a feature of a good summary?
A summary should be written in:
Before writing a summary you should first:
Which sentence is a better summary of “Heavy rain fell for three days, and as a result the roads flooded and schools closed”?
Why is a word limit important?
Directed writing asks you to respond to a text in a set form, such as a speech, letter or article, for a particular reader.
Before you write, decide: Role (who are you?), Audience (who reads it?), Format (speech, letter, article, report) and Topic or purpose (inform, persuade, advise). These decide your tone and content.
A speech uses direct address (“you”, “we”), rhetorical questions and a strong ending. A formal letter starts Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Mr/Ms …, has a clear purpose, and ends Yours faithfully (unknown name) or Yours sincerely (known name). An article has a catchy headline and engaging openers.
RAFT stands for:
Which is the best format for an appeal to a school’s principal?
A speech often uses:
If you start a letter “Dear Sir or Madam”, you end with:
If you start “Dear Ms Patel”, you end with:
To persuade your audience, you should:
In directed writing, ideas from the text should be:
Writing to a younger child about a hobby calls for a tone that is:
Which opening suits a speech?
The best way to decide on tone is to consider the:
A headline belongs most naturally in:
Which is persuasive language?
Why plan before writing?
In a debate, the strongest speaker is not the loudest. It is the one who listens closely and answers the other side’s best point.
A good case has a clear claim, reasons and evidence. A rebuttal answers a point from the other side. Formal language and steady pacing make you sound more credible.
In a group, take different roles: chair, note-taker, questioner. Invite quieter people in and summarise to check that everyone agrees.
A rebuttal is:
Which is the strongest evidence?
The chair of a discussion should:
Why summarise during a discussion?
A formal debate should use:
Taking notes in a debate helps you to:
A claim is:
Attacking the speaker instead of their point is:
Which invites someone into a discussion?
A note-taker’s job is to:
Which sounds the most credible?
Questions from every topic in this course. Pick an answer for each one, then hit Check My Answers.
A well-written summary of a long article would usually be:
A good summary should:
When summarising, examples and repetition should usually be:
A summary has a 120-word limit. You should:
The most appropriate register for a letter to a local newspaper editor is:
In directed writing, the first thing to identify is:
A letter to a head teacher should use:
Using details from the source text in directed writing shows:
A strong debate speech includes:
A good rebuttal should: