summarizing

What is it : Putting a text in your own words in a shortened form

What to do first
1. Skim the text (table of contents, index)
2. Pick out the main ideas
3. Find the topic sentence (main idea of a paragraph)

Questions to ask yourself
1. What happened ? (where, when, why)
2. Who is involved ? (how)
3. What is the outcome (consequence) ?
4. Is the essential piece of information included ?