Teaching ESL Students to Summarize Texts Effectively

🎯 Introduction

Summarizing is one of the most valuable reading skills ESL learners can develop. It helps students identify main ideas, capture essential information, and express content in shorter, clearer language. This post explores simple, classroom-friendly strategies for teaching summarizing in ESL settings.

📄 Why It Matters / Why It Works

Summarizing improves overall reading comprehension by teaching learners to:

• Distinguish key ideas from details

• Organize information logically

• Retell content in their own wordsIt strengthens academic writing and prepares students for real-world tasks like note-taking and presentations.

  
  

📚 Practical Teaching Strategies

1️⃣ “The 5-Finger Summary” (Beginner-Friendly)

Assign each finger a category:

• Who

• What

• When

• Where

• WhyStudents read a short text and answer only these five points.

• Outcome: Clear, structured summaries for beginners.

  
  

2️⃣ “Shrink the Paragraph” (Gradual Reduction)

Have students rewrite a paragraph in:

• 10 words

• 5 words

• 1 sentenceThis teaches conciseness and idea prioritization.

  
  

3️⃣ “Highlight → Reduce → Rewrite” (Simple Process)

Step 1: Highlight key sentences

Step 2: Remove repeated or unimportant details

Step 3: Rewrite in their own wordsGreat for intermediate reading classes.

4️⃣ “Partner Summary Switch” (Interactive Speaking + Writing)

Student A summarizes the text orally. Student B writes down what they hear and checks for accuracy.

• Outcome: Strengthens both listening and summarizing skills.

  
  

💡 Pro Tip

Teach students to avoid copying exact sentences. Instead, focus on capturing meaning, not wording — this builds real summarizing ability.

📌 Final Thought

Summarizing builds confident, independent readers. GoTEFL helps teachers develop essential comprehension techniques, while TEIK connects you with classrooms in Korea where strong reading skills make a huge difference.