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EAPP Presentation #1

The document discusses various techniques for summarizing academic texts, including reducing text size while retaining main ideas, stating the thesis and main points briefly and accurately, and using strategies like "Somebody Wanted But So Then" (for stories), SAAC (State, Assign, Action, Complete), the 5 W's and 1 H, "First, Then, Finally", and "Give Me the Gist". These techniques help identify key elements like characters, events, problems, and outcomes to create concise summaries.

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49 views

EAPP Presentation #1

The document discusses various techniques for summarizing academic texts, including reducing text size while retaining main ideas, stating the thesis and main points briefly and accurately, and using strategies like "Somebody Wanted But So Then" (for stories), SAAC (State, Assign, Action, Complete), the 5 W's and 1 H, "First, Then, Finally", and "Give Me the Gist". These techniques help identify key elements like characters, events, problems, and outcomes to create concise summaries.

Uploaded by

Jom Tabios
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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VARIOUS TECHNIQUES IN

SUMMARIZING A VARIETY OF
ACADEMIC TEXTS
WHAT IS SUMMARIZING?
• According to Buckley(2004), in her popular writing text Fit to Print, defines summarizing as reducing
text to 1/3 or ¼ its original size, clearly articulating the author’s meaning, and retaining main ideas.

• In addition, Diane Hacker(2008), she explains that summarizing involves stating a work’s thesis and
main ideas “ simply, briefly, and accurately”.

• The purpose of this is to simply or briefly present key points of a work to give or provide you good
context for your argument or your work.
TECHNIQUE 1: SOMEBODY WANTED
BUT SO THEN

• “Somebody Wanted But So Then” is an excellent summarizing strategy for


stories.
Each word represents a key question related to the story’s essential elements:
• Somebody: Who is the story about?
• Wanted: What does the main character want?
• But: Identify a problem that the main character encountered.
• So: How does the main character solve the problem?
• Then: Tell how the story ends.
TECHNIQUE 1: SOMEBODY
WANTED BUT SO THEN

Here is an example of this strategy in action:


Somebody: Little Red Riding Hood
Wanted: She wanted to take cookies to her sick grandmother.
But: She encountered a wolf pretending to be her grandmother.
So: She ran away, crying for help.
Then: A woodsman heard her and saved her from the wolf.

After answering the questions, combine the answers to form a summary:


Little Red Riding Hood wanted to take her cookies to her sick grandmother, but she encountered a wolf.
He got to her sick grandmother’s house first and pretended to be the old woman. He was going to eat Little Red
Riding Hood, but she realized what he was doing and ran away, crying for help. A woodsman heard the girls’ cries and
saved her from the wolf.
TECHNIQUE 2: SAAC METHOD

• The SAAC method is another useful technique for summarizing any kind of
text(story, article, speech, etc.). SAAC is an acronym for “State, Assign,
Action, Complete.” Each word in the acronym refers to a specific element that
should be included in the summary.
• State: name of the article, book, or story
• Assign: the name of the author
• Action: what the author is doing(example: tells, explains)
• Complete: complete the sentence or summary with keywords and important
details
TECHNIQUE 2: SAAC
METHOD

• This method is particularly helpful for students who are learning the format of a summary and needs reminders to include
the titles and author’s name. however, SAAC does not include clear guidance about which details to include, which some
students might find tricky. If you use SAAC with your students, remind them of the types of details that belong in a
summary before instructing them to work independently.
Here is an example of SAAC in action:
• State: The Boy Who Cried Wolf
• Assign: Aesop (a Greek storyteller)
• Action: Tells
• Complete: what happens when a shepherd boy repeatedly lies to the villagers about seeing a wolf

Use the four SAAC cues to write out a summary of “ The Boy Who Cried Wolf” in complete sentences
The Boy Who Cried Wolf, by Aesop(a Greek Storyteller), tells what happens when a shepherd boy repeatedly lies to the
villagers about seeing a wolf. After a while, they ignore his false cries. Then, when a wolf really does attack, they don’t come
to help him.
TECHNIQUE 3: 5 W’S, 1H

The 5 W’s, 1 H strategy relies on six crucial questions: who, what, when, where,
why and how. These questions make it easy to identify the main character, the most
important details, and the main idea.

Who is the story about?


What did they do?
When did the action take place?
Where did the story happen?
Why did the main character do what she/he did?
How did the main character do what she/he did?
TECHNIQUE 3: 5W’S, 1H

Try this technique with a familiar fable such as “ The Tortoise and the Hare.”
Who? The Tortoise
What? He raced a quick, boastful hare and won.
When? When isn’t specified in this story, so it’s not important in this case
Where? An old country road
Why? The tortoise was tired of hearing the hare boast about his speed.
How? The tortoise kept up his slow but steady pace.
Then, use the answers to the. 5w’s and 1h to write a summary of in complete sentences.
Tortoise got tired of listening to Hare boast about how fast he was, so he challenged Hare to a race. Even though he was
slower than Hare, Tortoise won by keeping up his slow and steady pace when Hare stopped to take a nap.
TECHNIQUE 4: FIRST, THEN, FINALLY

• The “First, Then, Finally” technique helps students summarize events in


chronological order. The three words represent the beginning, main action, and
conclusion of a story, respectively:
• First. What happened first? Include the main character and main event/action.
• Then. What key details took place during the event/action?
• Finally. What were the results of the event/action?
TECHNIQUE 4: FIRST, THEN, FINALLY

Here is an example using “ Goldilocks and the three Bears.”


First, Goldilocks and the bears’ home while they were gone. Then, she ate their food, and sat in their chairs, and slept in
their beds. Finally, she woke up to find a bear watching her, so she jumped up and ran away.
TECHNIQUE 5: GIVE ME THE GIST

• When someone asks for “the gist” of a story, they want to know what the story
is about. In other words, they want a summary— not a retelling of every detail.
Introduce the gist method, explain that summarizing is just like giving a friend
the gist of a story, and have your students tell each other about their favorite
books or movies in 15 seconds or less. You can use the gist method as a fun,
quick, way to practice summarizing on a regular basis.

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