Year 5 English: Summarising the main ideas
Part of the Year 5 English reading non-fiction: retrieving, summarising and fact or opinion chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Summarising the main ideas
Why Bees Matter (a report)
Bees are insects that help plants to make seeds and fruit. When a bee lands on a flower to collect nectar, pollen sticks to its fur. The bee carries the pollen to the next flower it visits.
Many of the foods we eat depend on bees. Apples, strawberries and runner beans all need to be pollinated before they can produce fruit or seeds.
Bees are in danger. Some farm sprays can harm them, and wild meadows have been turned into roads and houses. Gardeners can help by planting flowers of many colours and by leaving a patch of grass to grow long.
Key ideas
- A summary keeps the main ideas and key details, and leaves out examples and repeated information.
- Find the main idea of each paragraph first.
- Put the main ideas in the order of the text.
- Write the summary in your own words.
Method. Read the first sentence, then check the rest.
- Read the first sentence. Bees are insects that help plants to make seeds and fruit.help plants
- Check the rest. The rest explains how pollen moves, which is a detail.a detail
- Write the answer. bees help plants make seeds and fruit
Check. Bees help plants to make seeds and fruit. ✓
Method. Read the first sentence of the paragraph.
- Read the first sentence. Many of the foods we eat depend on bees.depend on bees
- Check the detail. Apples, strawberries and beans are examples.examples
- Write the answer. many foods depend on bees
Check. Many foods depend on bees. ✓
Method. Combine the main ideas from each paragraph.
- Paragraph 1. Bees help plants to make seeds and fruit.help plants
- Paragraphs 2 and 3. Many foods depend on bees, but bees are in danger.in danger
- Combine. Bees help plants, but they are in danger, and gardeners can help.gardeners can help
- Write the answer. Bees help plants and foods, but they are in danger, so gardeners can help.
Check. The summary has the three main ideas. ✓
Exercise 10C Practice: summarising
Method. Read the first sentence.
- Read the first sentence. Bees are in danger.in danger
- Write it. Bees are in danger.in danger
- Write the answer. bees are in danger
Check. Bees are in danger. ✓
Method. Find the list of foods.
- Find the list. Apples, strawberries and runner beans are named.apples
- Write one. Apples.apples
- Write the answer. apples
Check. Apples. ✓
Method. Find the sentence about helping.
- Find the sentence. Gardeners can help by planting flowers of many colours.planting flowers
- Write it. Plant flowers of many colours.planting flowers
- Write the answer. plant flowers of many colours
Check. Plant flowers of many colours. ✓
Method. Look at how each idea is used in the text.
- Check. Pollen sticks to fur explains how bees pollinate, which is a detail.detail
- Choose. Pollen sticks to fur is a detail.pollen sticks to fur
- Write the answer. pollen sticks to fur
Check. Pollen sticks to fur. ✓
Method. Check which paragraph each idea is in.
- Paragraph 1. What bees do is first.first
- Paragraph 2. Foods that need bees is second.second
- Paragraph 3. The danger to bees is third.third
- Write the answer. what bees do, foods that need bees, the danger to bees
Check. In the order of the text. ✓
Method. Look for examples in the second paragraph.
- Find the examples. Apples, strawberries and runner beans are named.three foods
- Write the detail. Apples, strawberries and runner beans need pollinating.need pollinating
- Write the answer. apples, strawberries and runner beans need pollinating
Check. Apples, strawberries and runner beans need pollinating. ✓
Method. Use the main idea.
- Find the main idea. Many foods depend on bees.depend on bees
- Write the summary. Many foods we eat depend on bees.depend on bees
- Write the answer. Many foods we eat depend on bees.
Check. Many foods depend on bees. ✓
Method. Look for a sentence that tells the reader what to do.
- Look for advice. Gardeners can help by planting flowers.can help
- Choose. The third paragraph.third
- Write the answer. the third paragraph
Check. The third paragraph. ✓
Method. Keep the main idea and leave out small details.
- Find the main idea. Bees help plants make seeds and fruit.seeds and fruit
- Use your own words. Bees move pollen between flowers, which helps plants.move pollen
- Write the answer. Bees move pollen between flowers, which helps plants make seeds and fruit.
Check. The summary keeps the main idea. ✓
Method. Think about the length of a summary.
- Look at the purpose. A summary is short.short
- Look at the examples. Examples are details that can be left out.left out
- Write the answer. a summary needs only the main ideas, so examples are not needed for the short version
Check. A summary keeps the main ideas. ✓