• 1 TRY OUT LANGUAGE

  • 2 LEARN GRAMMAR

  • 3 APPLY ON YOUR OWN

Tell About Ben

Summarize

You are exposed to lots of information every day. It’s impossible to remember everything you read and hear. How do you share what’s important with others? Summarize! You don’t need to remember everything. Many details are fun and interesting but not all that important.

With a partner, read this passage about Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.” He followed his own advice and did both. Today, Ben Franklin is remembered as one of our Founding Fathers. He helped write both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. He is also remembered as an inventor. Some of his inventions include bifocal glasses, the lightning rod, and the Franklin stove. Franklin was also a skilled printer. He printed paper money and helped begin our paper currency system. Did you know that his face appears on a hundred-dollar bill?

Now decide with your partner what information is important to remember. List just the most important or main ideas. Create a summary of the passage in your own words.

Read your summary to a small group.

Main Ideas

Franklin was a Founding Father of the U.S. He was an inventor.

How to Summarize

  • 1. Identify the main ideas and important information.

  • 2. Leave out less important information and most details and examples that are used to illustrate the main ideas.

  • 3. Use your own words to tell about what you heard or read.

Franklin was a Founding Father of this country. He helped write the Constitution. He was also an inventor.

Use Participles as Adjectives

When you write a summary, you may want to use participles as adjectives to describe the people or things you are telling about.

Past Participle:Franklin was a skilled printer.
Present Participle:His smiling face appears on paper money.