Name: Date:

Practice Writing a Brief Summary: Read the passage. Then write a brief objective summary.

When Jackie Robinson first cracked his bat into major league baseball in
1947, most of today's great players weren't even born. Few families owned a
television set, and if they did it was black and white, but no home was without a
radio. Everyone would gather around the radio to hear about Jackie Robinson,
the first Black American to play in the major leagues. Jackie could hit the ball the
hardest, field the best, run the fastest, and, best of all, steal the most bases.
Some say he could steal three bases on one pitch, and because of this, Jackie
Robinson was a baseball legend.
As a seven year old, Jackie began his baseball career doing the thing he would do
for the rest of his career, fight for the right to play. First, however, he fought to
play in his own neighborhood. He wanted to show his skills to the older boys on
the block, even if they were in no hurry to pick him for their teams. One day
after school Jackie followed his brother, Mack, and his friends to the sandlot
where they used rocks for bases and sawed-off broomsticks for bats. Since they
were short one player, the captain of one of the teams said, "We need another
player if we are going to play." Jackie sat on the sidelines fidgeting, wanting to
play, but none of the older boys considered asking him. Finally Mack, the other
team captain, looked around and said, "What about my brother? He's really
good at dodgeball."
"Dodgeball isn't baseball," the other captain said. Despite some argument,
they put Jackie way out in left field, far away from the action. But behind by two
runs, the team finally let Jackie come to bat. On the first pitch, he swung and
missed, but on the second pitch, Jackie swung with all his might, smacking the
ball between first and second bases. With a burst of speed, he rounded first
base to second before the players could throw the ball back to the pitcher's
mound.
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 Brief Summary Scoring Rubric
4 Objective without Analysis
Response provides a complete explanation of, or answer to, the item by including main ideas
and important information, both stated and unstated, from the passage. Response connects
author’s ideas, provides specific text examples. Response is supported with multiple details
from the passage.

3
Response provides a complete explanation of (or answer to) the item by including some key
ideas, either stated or unstated, from the passage. The response uses some information from
the passage to make connections across the text. Response is supported with some details
from the passage.

2
Response provides a limited explanation of, or answer to, the item by including only limited
ideas from the passage. The response may use weak connections between ideas, and
provide limited or unimportant text examples, and/or few supporting details from the passage.

1
Response provides a minimal explanation of, or answer to, the item. Response may be too
brief to show understanding of the text. Inaccurate, too few, or unsupported details may be
included in the response.

0
Response is irrelevant, inappropriate, or not provided.

©HappyEdugator
Name: Date:

Practice Writing a Brief Summary: Read the passage. Then write a brief objective summary.

During WWII, Navajo code talkers were heroes. They took part in every
battle the U.S. Marines fought in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. The Navajo code
talkers sent messages in their native language by telephone and radio. It was a
code that the Japanese never broke.
The idea to use Navajo code talkers for secret messages came from Philip
Johnston. Johnston grew up on a Navajo reservation. He was one of a few non-
Navajo people who spoke the language fluently. Johnston believed Navajo met
the military's need for a code that could not be broken because Navajo is an
unwritten language that is very complex. It has no alphabet or symbols. It is
spoken only on Navajo lands of the American Southwest. An estimate showed
that fewer than 30 non-Navajos could understand the language when World War
II broke out. None of them were Japanese.
Johnston staged tests under practice combat conditions early in 1942. The tests
proved that the Navajo code talkers could encode, transmit, and decode a three-
line English message in 20 seconds. Machines of the time required 30 minutes to
do the same job.
The first 29 Navajo recruits attended boot camp in May 1942. This first group
created the Navajo code. They developed a dictionary and many words for
military terms. The dictionary and all code words had to be memorized during
training. The major job of the code talkers was to talk by sending information over
telephones and radios. They sent information on tactics and troop movements.
They sent information on orders and other vital battlefield moves. They also
acted as messengers and did general Marine duties.
Praise for their skill, speed, and accuracy grew throughout the war. At Iwo Jima,
Major Howard Connor, the 5th Marine Division signal officer, said: "Were it not for
the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima."
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 Brief Summary Scoring Rubric
4 with Analysis
Response provides a complete explanation of, or answer to, the item by including main ideas
and important information, both stated and unstated, from the passage. Response connects
author’s ideas, provides specific text examples, and effectively interprets or makes
connections across the text or to other situations or texts through analysis, evaluation,
inference, and comparison. Response is supported with multiple details from the passage.

3
Response provides a complete explanation of (or answer to) the item by including some key
ideas, either stated or unstated, from the passage. The response uses some information from
the passage to make connections across the text or to other situations or texts, but there are
some gaps in analysis, evaluation, inference, or comparison. Response is supported with
some details from the passage.

2
Response provides a limited explanation of, or answer to, the item by including only limited
ideas from the passage. The response may have reasonable understanding or relevant
support (not both). The response may use weak connections between ideas, and provide
limited or unimportant text examples, and/or few supporting details from the passage.

1
Response provides a minimal explanation of, or answer to, the item. Response may be too
brief to show understanding of the text. Inaccurate, too few, or unsupported details may be
included in the response.

0
Response is irrelevant, inappropriate, or not provided.

© HappyEdugator
Teacher Directions

Students need to know how to write a brief

objective summary. So often, we teach them
opinion writing and we then fail to give them
practice writing just a straightforward summary of
what was written, without any kind of opinion or
judgment at all.
Students also need to be able to summarize and
analyze and evaluate a selection. I have also
included a rubric for doing that.
Teach your students about writing a summary.
Teach them how it is important to include all the
main details when they respond to a question
requiring summarization of a passage. This is critical
when writing for state assessments. I have included
two rubrics and two reading passages for you to
get started. If you like this free resource you might
also like the handout and writing assignments I
have created to use with it.

I hope this helps!

Best wishes for success always.

Deborah
© HappyEdugator
 Rubric for Writing Brief Summaries

Thank you for downloading this resource. I hope that you enjoy and get a lot of
use out of it. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. My
email address is happyedug8r@msn.com
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Additional licenses are available at a discounted price.

© HappyEdugator
happyedug8r@msn.com
 About Me

I have a
Bachelor of Education in Elementary and a Master of Education for Middle
Grades,
both from the University of Florida. I am certified to teach all elementary

and
middle school grades in ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies. I also have
endorsements for Reading, Gifted Students, and Teacher Support Specialist.

my Teachers Pay Teachers store in 2008 while teaching middle school full
I started
time. I have been working on TPT full time since 2014, when I moved to
Washington State to be near my children and grandchildren.

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