Reading skills: Steps to write a summary of a text

Lecturer: Nguyen Hanh Dao, MA.

School of Foreign Languages, Department of English Foundation

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 By the end of this unit, students will
be able to:
- Annotate or make notes at margin
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA of a reading text
- Highlight words, facts, points of a
reading text through indexing or
summarizing
- Make a Cornell note incl. a
summary
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 Steps to write a summary of a text
•1. Highlight & annotate the text
•2. Make a Cornell note with 3 components:
• Note area: using highlighted points/words in step 1
• Question/Main idea area: generalizing points/words
written in Note area
• Summary area: using main ideas to write a
summary

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How to highlight a text

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INDEXING

- Coloring words, facts, points of a reading text

(Richmond 2009)
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 SUMMARIZING

- Coloring longer phrases of paragraphs to make a summary of a reading text

(Richmond 2009)
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How to annotate

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 ANNOTATION TECHNIQUES

Making note at margin of reading

texts by:
•Asking a question.
•Answering question.
•Circling an unknown word.
•Underlining a quote (line or phrase).
• Connecting information.
•Giving comments
• Searching for clues for an inference.
• Summarizing what has been read.
•Visualizing interesting ideas.
(Vitoria State Government, 2021) FLE2109_Dealing with Text 3 8
Transferring annotated & highlighted information of a
paragraph to a note (sample mind-mapping note area)

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From taking notes to making a Cornell note

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A sample Cornell note incl. a summary

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Writing a summary from Question/Main idea
area of Cornell note
• Connecting main ideas/questions which are generalized in the
Question/Main idea area of the Cornell note to write a summary.
• A summary is a paragraph which consists of:
• a topic sentence (=a reporting verb + controlling point)
• 2-3 supporting sentences explaining different aspects of the controlling point
in the topic sentence
• To write a topic sentence of the summary, we will analyze the text
structure/organization and decide on a reporting verb to generalize
the main point of the text.
• To write supporting sentences of the summary, we will look at the
Question/Main idea area of the Cornell note.
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 Sample analysis: “Music on the Internet”
(textbook: MAKING CONNECTION 1)
Annotation & highlighting, making notes

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 Summary sample
• A summary is a paragraph which consists of: a topic sentence (=a reporting verb + controlling point); 2-
3 supporting sentences explaining different aspects of the controlling point in the topic sentence
Text topic: Music on the Internet
P3: Internet music has been popular by the year 2000s, giving listeners more opportunities to listen to
their favorite songs.
P4: One challenge to electronic music is the ease to share and copy it without paying to artists or
music businesses.
P5: Preventing copy-wright violation using technology or laws is advisory, but not successful in reality.
P6: Musicians can earn more because they can access to listeners directly through websites.
→Online music- benefits to listeners and musicians & companies –challenges to music industry

→ Sample summary:
Online music brings numerous benefits and challenges to those people involved in music industry. It
offers copies and sharing to listeners, and it also provides earning opportunities for musicians.
Electronic music may be accessed illegally free without being easily prevented. It is not convenient
for musicians or the government to protect artists’ copy -wright.

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 References

Richmond, K. (2009). Inside Reading 4: The Academic Word List in

Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Williams, J. (2014). Making Connections 1 (2nd ed.). New York:
Cambridge University Press.

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