Lesson 3Reading 2

Objectives, Vocabulary, and Notes Page  Lesson 3 By the end of class you will be able to:Ss will list the steps to take for summarizing a readingSs will summarize a longer readingSs will briefly describe an occupation that is in high demand in Oregon Today’s vocabulary: Occupation: a job or professionOutlook: what is expected to happen in the futureMedian: the middleAnnual: yearly  

1. Read the article and identify the main idea and the major supporting details.

2. Begin the summary with a general statement that includes the main idea along with the name of the article and the author.

3. Use your own words to discuss the major supporting details

4. Delete any information that is not important.

How to Summarize

5. Be brief. Summaries should only be ¼ the length of the original article.

Practice Article p. 14

“Occupation: Customer Service Representative”TIP: Turn the title into a WH question to help focus

on the main idea.What is a customer service representative?Read quickly through and lightly underline in pencil

the main idea of each paragraph AND one or two key words/phrases that answer your focus (title) question.

Challenge question 1: How little do you have to read to find the main idea of this article?

Challenge question 2: Does every paragraph have equal weight (like a list) or can some be grouped together?

Sample SummaryIn the article, Occupation: Customer Service Representative, the author says the main purpose of a customer service representative (CSR) is to resolve customer complaints. CSR’s look into whether the customer’s complaint is reasonable and justified. They then figure out how to fix the problem. Sometimes they make suggestions for change to their supervisors about ways to avoid the problem in the future. CRS’s also have to be good record keepers.

Why is summarizing important?In surveys of college instructors,

summarizing is often the skills ranked as #1.

The purpose of summarizing is to show how well you have understood what you read.

The purpose of summarizing is also to communicate information to another person.

Which job would you prefer?Out of the following jobs, which seems the

most interesting to you? Write it on a slip of paper.

WelderSales SupervisorMedical Assistant

Activity: Write a summaryFind the people with the same job as you. Sit

together in the same general area.You can work individually, in pairs, or in small

groups within your job group.Use the 5-step summary process to write a

summary of your article. When you are done, share your article with at

least one other person or group within your job group to see if you agreed.

Choose someone from the large group to read the summary for the class.

Check Individual SummariesDid you find the main and supporting ideas in

your article? Did you mention the name of the article and

the author’s name (if known) in the first sentence?

Does your first sentence state the overall main idea of your article?

Did you mention all of the major supporting ideas?

Did you use your own words?