The Anatomy of an Objective Summary: Mini-Lesson Presentation and Practice

This is a 15-slide PDF presentation intended to accompany a whole or small group introductory minilesson on objective summaries. The presentation begins by explaining what an objective summary is, and how it is a useful and critical skill to possess both as a reader and a writer. Next, it goes through the “anatomy” of an objective summary, including five components: the central/main idea, essential facts, and details, concise restatement/retelling, paraphrased language (not plagiarized language), and is free of personal opinions and judgments regarding the text. Lastly, there are three, separate slides that each have an excerpt of an article, and then a summary of that excerpt. At the bottom are “checkpoints” or guidelines for the teacher to use (the five components mentioned earlier) as he/she leads students in evaluating the summary and confirming that it indeed includes those 5 essential components present in an effective summary. This resource is appropriate to use with upper elementary and middle school readers and writers.