A Teaching Unit on Summary (PDF)

Document from the year 1991 in the subject Pedagogy - Miscellaneous Topics, grade: A, University of the West Indies (School of Education), course: Teaching of English - Methods, language: English, abstract: This paper will examine the purpose and value of summarizing through a close study of the various areas in which this skill proves to be essential and useful and will present an approach for teaching summary writing which will make it interesting and instructive to students. It proposes a teaching method which will afford students the opportunity to practice summarizing in a number of areas and for a range of different purposes, with the aim of helping them to see for themselves and to appreciate the practical benefits of being able to summarize.

The teacher must use a combination of visual and aural aids in order to stimulate interest and increase motivation.
It is recommended that the unit be divided into fourteen lessons; six of 35 minutes and eight of 70 minutes duration to be taught over a period of six weeks. While the subject will not have been exhausted in these fourteen lessons, students will have been provided with adequate foundation to assist them in becoming good summary writers.

It is hoped that by the end of the unit students will have come to a realization of the purpose and value of summarizing in everyday life, in school and in the world of work.