In this Year 9 foundation lesson our teachers show you how to choose the key points, drop the detail and rewrite without copying.
Saying more with less
A summary takes a text and gives back its main points, accurately, in your own words, and far more briefly. It sounds easy, but it needs two skills at once. You must decide what counts as a main point, and you must rephrase it instead of copying.
A student who can do both shows real understanding. That is why summary tasks matter so much in later reading papers.
Good summarising also helps with note-making, revision and clear thinking in every subject. Year 9 has no exam pressure, so there is time to build these habits smoothly.
The two hard parts
Selecting. Most texts have far more words than ideas. They include examples, repetition and detail. Read past all that to find the main points.
Ask: if I removed this, would the reader lose something essential, or only an example? Keep only the essentials.
Rephrasing. A summary must be in your own words. Copying the original wording (called lifting) only shows you can spot important-looking sentences. Rewriting an idea in new words proves you understand it.
This is often harder, because the original wording sits right there on the page. A good trick is to read a point, look away, and write it from memory.
A worked model
Passage: “The town’s old library was noisy and cramped, and few people used it. When the council moved it to a bright new building near the station, visitor numbers climbed at once. Staff added quiet study rooms and a small café, and within a year the library had become one of the busiest places in town, especially with students revising after school.”
Summary: After a move to a brighter building with study rooms and a café, the once-neglected town library became far more popular, especially with students.
The summary keeps the essential points: the move, the improvements, the rise in popularity and the students. It drops the detail about noise, the station, the council and the timing.
It is also in fresh words. Selecting and rephrasing are working together.
A teacher can build this skill into Year 9 lessons that prepare for IGCSE. The trial hour is the first step.
Try it yourself
Summarise this passage in one sentence of your own words.
“At first the new recycling scheme confused residents, who often put items in the wrong bins. The council responded by delivering simple picture guides to every home, and after a few weeks the number of sorting mistakes fell sharply.”
Answer: A strong summary keeps the essentials and rephrases them. For example: “Confusion over the new recycling scheme fell sharply after the council sent every home a simple picture guide.” Your wording can differ. A good answer keeps two main points, the early confusion and the guides that fixed it.
It drops the detail about wrong bins and timing, and it uses fresh words. If your version was almost as long as the passage, look for detail to cut. If you copied whole phrases, write it again from memory.
Common mistakes
- Lifting phrases. Change the words, not only the order.
- Keeping examples. “For instance…” parts can usually go.
- Adding your opinion. A summary reports the text, not your view.
- Missing a main point. Check each paragraph gave you at least one point.
Practising summary in Year 9
Take a paragraph from an article and reduce it to one sentence in your own words. Then check that no main point is lost and nothing was copied.
To avoid lifting, read the paragraph, look away, then write. When this feels easy, move from a paragraph to a page.
A good test is to give your summary to someone who has not read the original. Can they understand the main points? If yes, your selecting worked.
If it reads like copied fragments, work on the rephrasing. Also check whether your summary is truly shorter, or just a lightly trimmed copy.
Where students get stuck, and what we do
Students usually get stuck on rephrasing. They know the main points, but they keep the writer’s words because they are afraid of changing the meaning. In 1-to-1 lessons, our teachers take a real passage, choose the main points with the student, and practise saying each one aloud in different words first.
Then the student writes. This is part of our Year 9 foundation tuition, and it prepares students for the summary tasks in ESL and First Language English.
To practise, read how to write a summary within the word limit and how to write good topic sentences. To try a summary with a teacher, book a paid one-hour trial lesson. Rates start from RM70/hr.