Researching and Retelling to Inform

Which statement best describes a summary?

A summary does not include personal opinion.

Read the excerpt from "George Washington." He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him. Which is the central idea in this excerpt?

As a young man, Washington participated in land surveying and fought in the military.

Read the excerpt from "George Washington." Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, [George Washington] learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman. Which provides the best objective summary of this sentence?

George Washington was born in 1732 and raised according to the standards set forth for Virginia gentlemen of the time period.

Read the excerpt from "George Washington." Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him. Which provides the best objective summary of this excerpt?

Washington developed a throat infection and died in 1799, less than three years after he retired at Mount Vernon.

Read the excerpt from "George Washington." He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger. Which detail is most relevant to the central idea in this excerpt?

Washington did not entirely accept the foreign policy recommendations of Jefferson or Hamilton.

Read the excerpt from "George Washington." When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years. Which provides the best objective summary of this excerpt?

Washington took command of an unprepared army in 1775 and entered into a difficult war that lasted six years.

Read the excerpt from "George Washington." He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him. Which detail is the most relevant as support for the central idea of this excerpt?

Washington was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754.

Read the excerpt from "George Washington." He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general action, or put anything to the Risque unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally, in 1781 with the aid of French allies—he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Which is the central idea in this excerpt?

Washington's battle strategies during the war led to the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781.

Which best describes an objective summary?

a short statement written in one's own words that provides the key points or central idea of a text

Which best describes a retelling?

an explanation written in one's own words that provides all of the details and information in a text

Maria has been asked by her teacher to explain, in her own words, all of the details and information she read in an article. What has Maria been asked to do?

retell

Janos has been asked by his teacher to give, in his own words, a short explanation of the key points in an article. What has Janos been asked to do?

summarize