Year 5 English: Predicting and summarising a story
Part of the Year 5 English reading fiction: summarising and comparing chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Predicting and summarising a story
The Tailor and the Button
Mr Pell was the finest tailor in Ashford, and he knew it. One autumn he began a coat so grand that it would have a thousand buttons. He sewed each button with great pride, but he was in such a hurry to be famous that he stitched them quickly and did not check them.
Soon the buttons began to talk. ‘We are too small to matter,’ said the brass button on the sleeve. ‘Nobody will look at us.’
‘Then we will fall off,’ said the button on the collar, and it did.
Mr Pell heard the whispering and frowned. He was too proud to listen. He sewed faster and faster, until his fingers were sore.
One morning, a sparrow landed on the window ledge and watched him work. ‘A coat is only as strong as its smallest stitch,’ she said.
Mr Pell laughed at her. But when the coat was finished, not one of its buttons stayed on. Mr Pell sat down, unpicked the coat, and sewed each button again, slowly this time. It took him a whole winter, and he never again called any job too small.
Key ideas
- A prediction is based on clues: what is stated and what is implied.
- A summary gives the main events in order, with the key details, and leaves out small details.
- Start a summary with the main character and the problem.
- Keep a summary short: a few sentences, not a copy.
Method. Use the clue that the buttons fell off.
- Find the clue. The buttons fell off, and Mr Pell was not careful.buttons fell off
- Make the prediction. He will probably check each stitch carefully.check each stitch
- Write the answer. He will check his stitches carefully
Check. A sensible prediction. ✓
Method. Name the main character, the problem and the ending.
- Name the character and problem. Mr Pell is too hurried and his buttons fall off.Mr Pell, buttons
- Name the ending. He sews them again, slowly.sews them again
- Write the answer. Mr Pell is too hurried and proud, so his buttons fall off, and he sews them again.
Check. The summary has the main events. ✓
Method. Decide which detail matters to the main events.
- Check the main events. The warning is part of the lesson.lesson
- Decide. The colour is a small detail not needed in a summary.colour
- Write the answer. the colour of the coat
Check. The colour can be left out. ✓
Exercise 8E Practice: predicting and summarising
Method. Use the ending as a clue.
- Find the clue. Every window is lit at the end.every window
- Make the prediction. The children will probably be happy and play outside.play outside
- Write the answer. It will be lit and the children will go out to play
Check. A sensible prediction. ✓
Method. Find the start of the story.
- Find the start. One autumn he began a coat with a thousand buttons.began a coat
- Write the event. Mr Pell begins a coat with a thousand buttons.began a coat
- Write the answer. Mr Pell begins a coat with a thousand buttons
Check. Mr Pell begins a coat. ✓
Method. Put the events in order.
- Find the order. The buttons fall off, then Mr Pell unpicks the coat and sews again.then
- Write the event. He unpicks the coat and sews the buttons again.sews again
- Write the answer. Mr Pell sews the buttons again
Check. He sews the buttons again. ✓
Method. Choose the event that drives the story.
- Check each. The fox's coat is a small detail; the singing solves the problem.singing solves
- Choose. Oona sings to the lamp is a main event.Oona sings
- Write the answer. Oona sings to the lamp
Check. Oona sings to the lamp. ✓
Method. Use what he learns.
- Find the clue. He learns that every button matters.every button
- Make the prediction. He will take care with every stitch.take care
- Write the answer. He will probably take more care with the stitches
Check. A sensible prediction. ✓
Method. Name the character and the main event.
- Name the character. Oona.Oona
- Name the event. She sings and the lamp burns again.lamp burns again
- Write the answer. Oona sings to the fox and the lamp burns again
Check. The summary has Oona and the lamp. ✓
Method. Think about what the story needs.
- Check each. Climbing the hill is part of the story's plot.plot
- Choose. Her age is a detail that a summary can leave out.detail
- Write the answer. Oona was ten years old
Check. Her age is a detail. ✓
Method. Think about what Mr Pell is shown to be.
- Find the clue. Mr Pell laughed at the sparrow, but then he sewed the buttons again.sewed again
- Make the prediction. He might listen to the sparrow next time.listen
- Write the answer. He might listen to the sparrow and look again at his work
Check. A sensible prediction. ✓
Method. Choose the main events in order.
- Sentence one. Mr Pell sews a coat with a thousand buttons in a hurry.hurry
- Sentence two. The sparrow warns him, and the buttons fall off.warns
- Sentence three. He sews them again slowly.slowly
- Write the answer. Mr Pell sews a coat with a thousand buttons in a hurry. His buttons begin to fall off, and a sparrow warns him about his stitches. He unpicks the coat and sews the buttons again, slowly.
Check. The summary has the key events. ✓
Method. Think about the purpose of a summary.
- Look at the purpose. A summary is short and shows the main events.short
- Look at details. Small details like the colour or the number of windows can be left out.left out
- Write the answer. a summary has the main events only, so small details such as the fox's house are left out
Check. A summary is short. ✓