Reading & writing · Grades 6–10
Summaries, paraphrases and attribution
Retell ideas in new wording without distorting their meaning.
Learn the idea
Summary
A summary condenses the main ideas and normally omits minor examples.
Paraphrase
A paraphrase restates a particular idea using genuinely different wording and structure.
Attribution
Using your own words does not make another person's ideas your original contribution.
Check accuracy
Compare the original with the rewrite for changes in certainty, scope or cause.
Worked examples
Which is the main purpose of a summary?
A summary prioritizes central ideas over every detail.
Condense the main ideas.
Summarize this original fictional notice: “The library will close at four on Friday for shelf repairs. Saturday hours will stay the same.”
Preserve the Friday reason and the unchanged Saturday schedule.
The library closes early on Friday for repairs, with normal Saturday hours.
Check your understanding
An original sentence says an approach “may help.” Which rewrite changes its certainty?
- The approach could help.
- The approach always works.
- It might be useful.
Paraphrase: “The group delayed the picnic because the path was flooded.”
Which practice is a weak paraphrase?
- Rebuilding the sentence and checking its meaning.
- Identifying the source of the idea.
- Replacing a few words while retaining nearly all original structure.
Answers and marking notes
Answers and marking notes
- The approach always works.
Always turns a possibility into an unsupported guarantee.
- Flooding on the path caused the group to postpone its picnic.
Accept a new grammatical structure preserving the cause and action.
- Replacing a few words while retaining nearly all original structure.
Superficial substitutions do not establish independent wording.
Independent educational review required. Grade bands are approximate; these are not officially aligned curricula.