Say It in Brief: Writing a Summary

About This Resource

A complete Grade 10 ESL writing lesson pack on writing a summary: what a good summary includes and leaves out, finding the main idea and key supporting points, paraphrasing instead of copying, reporting phrases such as "The article argues that...", keeping an objective tone, and condensing a full article on teenage sleep into a clear, accurate paragraph. Includes slides, a timed lesson plan, flashcards, worksheet, quiz, homework, rubric and answer key.

Overview

Students learn that a summary is a short, objective version of a text, written in their own words, that keeps only the main idea and the most important supporting points. They practice deciding what to include and what to leave out (examples, statistics, repetition and personal opinions), paraphrasing sentences by changing words and structure, and using reporting verbs such as explains, argues and suggests. They follow a five-step process with an article about why teenagers need more sleep, compare strong and weak summaries, and write their own one-sentence and one-paragraph summaries.

Resource Details

Subject: ESL
Topic: Writing a Summary
Category: Writing
File Type: PDF
File Size: 365.4 KB
Published: 04 Nov 2026
Downloads: 0

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Grade 10 (ages 15–16) 55 minutes Reading for main ideas paraphrasing condensing objective writing editing

Learning Objectives

Identify the main idea and key supporting points of a text and decide what to leave out.
Paraphrase ideas accurately in their own words and use reporting phrases.
Write a concise, objective summary of an informational text.

How to Use This Resource

Start with slide 1: "Your friend missed a two-hour film. You have thirty seconds to tell them what it was about. What do you include?"
Teach what to include, paraphrasing and reporting phrases with the slides, then do activities 1 and 2 together.
Students complete activities 3 to 6, then use the quiz to check and the homework summary. Answers are in the answer key.

Classroom Activity Ideas

Thirty-second film: students summarize a film or series episode aloud in thirty seconds, then in one sentence.
Highlighter hunt: students highlight the main idea in one color and supporting points in another, then cross out examples and details.
Summary swap: students summarize a short news article, swap with a partner and check whether any key point is missing or any opinion has crept in.

Differentiation

Support: give a summary frame (The article explains that... First,... Also,... Finally,...) and a list of synonyms for key words. Challenge: write two summaries of the same text, one of 100 words and one of 30 words, and explain what was removed and why.

Assessment

Worksheet activities 1 to 5 and the quiz check selecting main ideas, paraphrasing and reporting language (answer key included). Activity 6 and the homework summary are assessed with the rubric.

Teacher Tips

Ban copying whole sentences. Ask students to read a paragraph, turn the page over and write the key point from memory. This forces them to use their own words and naturally leaves out small details.

What's Included

14-page printable PDF lesson pack: teacher lesson plan with timings, materials and differentiation
Key vocabulary list (8 words with meanings and examples)
Student worksheet (6 activities)
Quiz / assessment (3 parts)
Homework practice page
Printable flashcards: 8 A5 picture cards (separate PDF)
Assessment rubric (4 levels)
Lesson slides (editable PowerPoint)
Editable Word version of all student pages
Complete answer key (also as a separate PDF)

Additional Files

Lesson Slides (PPTX)
Editable Student Pages and Lesson Plan (DOCX)
A5 Flashcards (PDF)
Answer Key (PDF)

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