Reading Summary Worksheet

Choose a summary frame, then print it blank for the book or article your class is reading.

Sheet

Paper size

Press a line to type on it.

Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then summary worksheet Five ruled boxes down the sheet, one for each word of the frame, then a box for the summary in two sentences. For a story with one main character and one problem.

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Next step Print a story map for the same book Print a reading log for the week

How it works

This reading summary worksheet opens on Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then and ends in a box for a two-sentence summary. The Sheet menu holds five more frames, nonfiction included. Every free sheet is blank, for a book or article your class has.

Read the full guide

Match the frame to the text

A story with one main character and one problem fits Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then. A news article fits the five Ws and how. A chapter of a science book fits main idea and three details, or the nonfiction frame: topic, three facts, new words and one question.

Pick the lines by grade

Sheets with primary lines suit kindergarten to 2nd grade, and the draw and write sheet suits students who are not writing sentences yet. Plain lines suit 3rd grade and up.

Finish in two sentences

Most sheets end in a box called My summary in two sentences. For more room in the frame, choose the sheet without it, or two to a page for an exit ticket.

The K to 2nd grade standards say main topic. Main idea starts in 3rd grade, and 5th grade asks for two or more main ideas.
A summary keeps opinions out. The 6th grade standard asks for a summary distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
Fill in one frame together first. The three samples use two of Aesop's fables and the Wright brothers' first flight.

Questions and answers

What is a reading summary worksheet?

A one-page frame that breaks a text into its most important parts, so a student can write a short summary from them. The frames here fit any story, chapter or article. There is no passage to read on the sheet itself.

What does Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then mean?

Each word is a question about a story. Somebody: who is the main character? Wanted: what did they want? But: what got in the way? So: what did they do about it? Then: how did it end? Read in order, the answers make a summary.

What is the difference between a retelling and a summary?

A retelling goes through the events in order with their details. A summary keeps only the most important parts. The Common Core standards ask kindergarten and 1st grade to retell, 2nd and 3rd grade to recount, and 4th grade and up to summarize.

How do you summarize a nonfiction text?

Name the topic, then the main idea: what the text mostly says about that topic. Add the two or three key details that support it and leave out the rest. For news and history, answer who, what, where, when, why and how.

Can I use these worksheets with any book?

Yes. No sheet names a book, and each has lines for the student's name and the title. To take a story apart by characters, setting and plot instead, print a story elements worksheet.

All 28 worksheets

Filled-in samples 3

Sample first, next, then, last, filled in: The Boy Who Cried Wolf The four steps done for Aesop's fable. First, a shepherd boy shouts that a wolf is after the flock, and the villagers run to help for nothing. Next, he fools them again. Then a real wolf comes and he calls for help. Last, nobody believes him, and the wolf eats the sheep.
Sample five Ws and how, filled in: the first airplane flight The six questions answered for a nonfiction text about the Wright brothers. Who: Orville and Wilbur Wright. What: the first sustained, controlled flights in a powered airplane. Where: near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. When: December 17, 1903. Why: after three years of glider tests they were ready to try an engine. How: a biplane with a gasoline engine and two propellers, flown into a strong wind.
Sample Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then, filled in: The Crow and the Pitcher The frame done for Aesop's fable. Somebody: a thirsty crow. Wanted: a drink from a pitcher. But: the water sat at the bottom, too low for its beak. So: it dropped in pebbles, one at a time. Then: the water rose to the top and the crow drank.

Show all 28 worksheets (25 more)

Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then 4

Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then summary worksheet Five ruled boxes down the sheet, one for each word of the frame, then a box for the summary in two sentences. For a story with one main character and one problem.
Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then with primary lines The same five boxes and summary box on a three-line primary rule, for students who still write large.
Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then without the summary box The five boxes only, with more lines in each. The summary is written on other paper or said aloud.
Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then, two to a page Two half-page copies with a cut line between them and no summary box. For an exit ticket or a reading notebook.

Five Ws and how 4

Five Ws and how summary worksheet Six boxes in rows of two: who, what, where, when, why and how, then the summary box. The 2nd grade standards name these six questions, in this order, for stories and for nonfiction.
Five Ws and how with primary lines The six question boxes and the summary box on a three-line primary rule.
Five Ws and how without the summary box The six question boxes only, with more lines in each. Good for a news article, where the answers are the summary.
Five Ws and how, two to a page Two half-page copies with a cut line between them, six small boxes on each and no summary box.

Beginning, middle, end and first, next, then, last 8

Beginning, middle and end summary with primary lines The three parts and the summary box on a three-line primary rule.
Beginning, middle and end summary worksheet One sentence for each part of the story, then the summary box. It asks for the most important event of the middle, which is where a retelling turns into a summary.
Beginning, middle and end summary, two to a page Two half-page copies with a cut line between them, three boxes on each and no summary box.
First, next, then, last summary worksheet Four boxes down the sheet. Each one starts with its word, First, Next, Then or Last, printed on the first line, then the summary box.
First, next, then, last to draw and write Four picture boxes across a landscape sheet, each with primary lines under it for one sentence. No summary box.
First, next, then, last with primary lines The four starter boxes and the summary box on a three-line primary rule. The kindergarten and 1st grade standards ask students to retell a story with its key details.
First, next, then, last without the summary box The four starter boxes only, with more lines in each. Also works for the steps of a science experiment or a recipe.
First, next, then, last, two to a page Two half-page copies with a cut line between them, four starter boxes on each and no summary box.

Main idea and details 5

Main idea and three details summary worksheet One wide box for the main idea, three for the key details that support it, then the summary box. The 3rd grade standard asks for the main idea and how the key details support it.
Main idea and three details without the summary box The main idea box and three detail boxes only, with more lines in each.
Main idea and three details, two to a page Two half-page copies with a cut line between them and no summary box. One for each section of a chapter.
Main topic and three key details with primary lines The same sheet for kindergarten to 2nd grade, where the standards say main topic and not main idea, on a three-line primary rule.
Two main ideas with two details each Two wide main idea boxes, each over two detail boxes, then the summary box. The 5th grade standard asks for two or more main ideas of one text.

Nonfiction summaries 4

Nonfiction summary with primary lines Topic, three facts, new words, one question and the summary box on a three-line primary rule.
Nonfiction summary without the summary box Topic, three facts, new words and one question, with more lines in each. For notes on a science or social studies article.
Nonfiction summary worksheet: topic, three facts, new words, a question A wide topic box, three fact boxes and a new words box in rows of two, a wide box for one question the text left open, then the summary box.
Nonfiction summary, two to a page Two half-page copies with a cut line between them and no summary box. One for each article in a week of reading.

How this list was compiled: Laid out and written in-house. The grade levels and the words retell, recount, summarize, main topic and main idea were checked against the Common Core reading standards, kindergarten to grade 5. The samples retell two of Aesop's fables and the Wright brothers' first flight in our own words, and no publisher's organizer is copied. Licence: own work