ANOTHER 5

EASY TECHNIQUES
IN SUMMARIZING
VARIOUS ACADEMIC
TEXTS
11-BURGUNDY
GROUP-2
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
​a. define Academic Text
b. explain the Another 5 Easy Techniques in
Summarizing Various Academic Texts
c. distinguish the use of summarizing.
​
 TECHNIQUE 1:
SOMEBODY WANTED
BUT SO THEN
 4

"SOMEBODY WANTED BUT SO THEN"

Is an excellent summarizing strategy for stories. Each word represents a key
question related to the story's essential elements:

Somebody: Who is the story about?

Wanted: What does the main charter want?
But: Identify a problem that the main character encountered.
So: How does the main character solve the problem?
Then: Tell how the story ends.
 5

TECHNIQUE 2:​
SAAC METHOD
 6

"SAAC METHOD"
The SAAC method is another useful technique for summarizing any kind of text
(story, article, speech, etc). SAAC is an acronym for "State, Assign,
Action, Complete." Each word in the acronym refers to a specific element that
should be included in the summary.​

State: name of the article, book, or story​

Assign: the name of the author​
Action: what the author is doing (example: tells, explains)​
Complete: complete the sentence or summary with keywords
and important details​
 7

"SAAC METHOD"
This method is particularly helpful for students who are learning
the format of a summary and need reminders to include the title
and author's name. However, SAAC does not include clear
guidance about which details to include, which some students
might find tricky.
If you use SAAC with your students, remind them of the types of
details that belong in a summary before instructing them to work
independently.
 8

TECHNIQUE 3:​
5W'S AND 1H​
 9

5W'S AND 1H
The 5 W's, 1 H strategy relies on six crucial questions: who, what, when, where,
why, and how. ​
These questions make it easy to identify the main character, the important details,
and the main idea.​

Who is the story about?​

What did they do?​
When did the action take place?​
Where did the story happen?​
Why did the main character do what he/she did?​
How did the main character do what he/she did?​
 10

TECHNIQUE 4:
FIRST, THEN, FINALLY
 "FIRST, THEN, FINALLY"
The "First Then Finally" technique helps students summarize events in
chronological order. The three words represent the beginning, main action,
and conclusion of a story, respectively:​

First. What happened first? Include the

main character and main event/action.​
Then. What key details took place during
the event/action?​
Finally. What were the results of the event/action?​

11
 TECHNIQUE 5:
GIVE ME THE GIST
 Technique 5: Give Me the Gist​
​
When someone asks for "the gist" of a story, they want to know
what the story is about. In other words, they want a summary—
not a retelling of every detail. To introduce the gist method,
explain that summarizing is just like giving a friend the gist of
a story.​
WHEN SUMMARIZING IS USEFUL?
Summarizing is useful in many types of writing and at different points
in the writing process. Summarizing is used to support an argument,
provide context for a paper’s thesis, write literature reviews, and
annotate a bibliography. The benefit of summarizing lies in
showing the "big picture," which allows the reader to contextualize
what you are saying. ​
In addition to the advantages of summarizing for the reader, as a writer
you gain a better sense of where you are going with your writing,
which parts need elaboration, and whether you have comprehended
the information you have collected.​