Adolescent Literacy Series: Main Idea, Details and Summary

By Peg Grafwallner, Instructional Coach and Reading Specialist

Besides academic vocabulary, I cannot think of a cross-curricular skill that is most often used in the classroom, in college, and in the world of work. Finding the main idea is paramount to understanding any piece of communication. According to Kelly Roell from ThoughtCo. (2019), “Finding the main idea of a paragraph or longer passage of text is one of the most important reading skills to master, along with concepts like making an inference, finding the author's purpose, or understanding vocabulary words in context.” Consider this, locating the main idea begins the discussion about the what and without that what there wouldn’t be a need to move toward the supporting details, or toward more discussion!

The supporting details support the main idea by explaining the who, when, where, why, and how. Once you’ve located the main idea and supporting details, you have a better understanding of the writer’s purpose.

In last month’s article, Annotation and Personal Inquiry, students were asked to apply QCV (Questions, Comments, and Vocabulary) when reading. Often as students are writing questions, making comments, and circling vocabulary, their questions and comments usually center around the main idea and details. Therefore, encourage students to read their questions and comments to help determine the main idea and details.

Again, let’s not make this skill tedious or time-consuming for our students. Finding the main idea and subsequent details should not be mysterious activity that only good readers can do; rather, locating the main idea and subsequent details is a foundational skill that all students can learn to do.

How to Find the Main Idea and Supporting Details

The Magnet Summary, designed by Doug Buehl (1993), is probably my favorite main idea and supporting details resource. According to Buehl, “Magnet Summaries involve the identification of key terms or concepts – magnet words – from a reading ….” The Magnet Summary is easy to use and offers students a visual representation of their learning. There is a summary box, if you choose to use it; however, you can omit it and scaffold summary at a later date. There is also a personal question for the student to comment; again, feel free to utilize as it is or modify to design your own.

For this particular lesson, I’ve created a jigsaw opportunity where students can work in pairs and the text can be divided into sections so students can practice the skill.

Step 1: Consider chunking the text into smaller portions; breaking the text into doable paragraphs gives students the opportunity to be successful. Too much can be too frustrating. Start small.

Step 2: Explain the purpose and value of finding the main idea and details.

Step 3: Put students in pairs. Give each student pair a paragraph of the text.

Step 4: Ask each pair to read (aloud or silently) their paragraph. As a pair, they determine the main idea of their paragraph and four supporting details.

Step 5: If you want students to create the summary, the main idea becomes the topic sentence and the four supporting details are the body paragraph. Keep the details in chronological order so they make sense. In addition, students might have to add some connecting words to their summary; such as: first, second, third, last, next, and, but, or, for, as, because, then, besides, but students should not be adding any new details.

Step 6: When all pairs have completed the work, ask them to share that work with their peers. They have now all “read” the text you gave them in an engaging and more comprehensive way.

As students become more adept at finding the main idea and details, you can apply the Magnet Summary to more complex text.

How to Compose a Summary

The art of summarizing can be particularly challenging for students. Many students want to give you a retelling – they want to share with you everything they have read. A summary is the who, what, where, when, and why/how of the text, nothing more and nothing less. Give students practice in writing a summary based on breaking down these components.

My go-to resource has always been the 5Ws and How, a resource created by Dr. Janet Allen, a nationally known literacy consultant. The 5Ws and How breaks down each component giving the student the opportunity to look for only what is needed – not the myriad of details that creates a retelling. Rather, each W (who, what, when, where, why) and H (how) has a specific place where the student can write down the answer. Then, the student uses only that particular information to create the summary. The student might need to add connecting words like; and, the, because, but, or, for, next, then, and others, but the goal is to keep it strictly to the information written on the resource. Nothing new is added in the summary.

Think about using the 5Ws and How when writing a summary of informational text and when writing a summary based on literature. When writing a summary for literature, consider utilizing the literary devices so students can practice the application of those devices.

I have included both examples here.

How to Write a Summary based on Informational Text

Step 1: Give students an informative article to read.

Step 2. Applying who, what, where, when, why, and how, ask students to complete the 5Ws and How. Please note, you might want to use “why” or “how” for the first several practices. For our conceptual thinkers, “why” and “how” can be intimidating; therefore, consider choosing just one of the concepts initially.

Step 3: Using only the 5Ws and How, ask students to write a summary. This specific graphic organizer breaks each concept apart so students can write a crisp summary and omit a retelling.

How to Write a Summary based on Literature

Summarizing is not just for informational text. When reading literature, it is important to teach students the art of summarizing, as well. I recommend beginning the summary practice with a short story. Once students are feeling comfortable with that practice, move on to chapters of a novel or acts of a play. Eliminating the myriad of details, especially in a piece of literature, can be challenging, so give students plenty of time, space, and collaboration to practice.

Step 1: Give students a short story to read.

Step 2. Applying who, what, where, when, why, and how, ask students to complete the 5Ws and How.

Step 3: Using only the 5Ws and How, ask students to write a summary. This specific graphic organizer utilizes the literary devices so students can practice the devices and write a crisp summary.

Conclusion

The foundational skill of main idea, supporting details and summary must be one of the first skills taught; without it, students will be reading without purpose. Finding the main idea is paramount to understanding any piece of communication; therefore, to be fully engaged in text, students must have a direction. The foundational skill of main idea, supporting details and summary provides students an engaging and empowering path in achieving that purpose.

Resources

Allen, J. (2008). More tools for teaching content literacy. Stenhouse.

Buehl, D. (2013). Classroom strategies for interactive learning. International Literacy Association.

Roell, K. (2019, July 3). How to find the main idea. Accessed at https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-find-the-main-idea-3212047 on August 10, 2022.