Instructions
Assignment
Write a Summary
Your assignment is to write a summary of The Secret Garden. Remember, when summarizing a fiction text, you should briefly retell the story, including all important details. Refer to your prewriting worksheet Summarizing Fiction to help you organize your summary.
Once complete, submit your summary, as well as the prewriting document Summarizing Fiction.
Use the assignment rubric to help guide your work.
Your final draft should be free from mechanical and grammatical errors, including spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. It should also demonstrate your ability to structure strong academic paragraphs. Use the example below to format your document using size 12 font, double spaced, with an appropriate heading.
Essay Title
This is the start to my essay. If I was writing one for real I would this is where I would be starting my introduction so that people would be getting to know my ideas. This paragraph should end with a thesis stating the main idea and heart of my essay so that people know what I am going to be writing about. Then I will write at least 3 body paragraphs about those ideas that are each structured around giving evidence to support my main idea. Finally, I will write with a conclusion that summarizes all the evidence I have given in my essay and ends with a powerful final though to wrap everything up.
When you are done, submit your assignment for grading.
Rubric
Assignment: Write a Summary (30 points)
Criterion
Exemplary (27-30 points)
High-scoring students will do the following:
Proficient (23-26 points)
Middle-scoring students will do the following:
Emerging (18-22 points)
Low-scoring students will do the following:
Not Evident (below 18 points)
PLANNING DOCUMENT
Points Possible: 4
Planning document is complete.
Planning document is mostly complete.
Planning document is partially complete.
Planning document is incomplete or not submitted.
TEXT SUMMARY—
Introduce topic and summarize information for book review
Points Possible: 10
Present a concise, but thorough, summary. Students include all major plot points, characterizations, and settings. Summary should outline the main details of the book but does not give away the ending.
Present a well-written summary. Student includes most major plot points and basic discussions of setting and character development. Summary outlines most of the main details of the book and does not give away the ending.
Present a basic summary, but do not include all of the main elements. Student summary may be missing information about plot, characters, or setting and does not give away the ending.
Present little to no information about the main details in the book. Student summary does not outline the main plot points and ideas in the book. Gives away the ending.
STRUCTURE—
Summarize text objectively including main idea and relevant details
Points Possible: 6
Provide a structural outline of the story, including main points and relevant details. Students include information that is both complete and concise.
Provide a structural outline of the story, including most of the main points and most of the relevant details. Students include most of the important information, although the wording may be either too short for a thorough description or too wordy for a summary.
Present a basic outline of the story, without following the structure detailed in the lesson. Structure is simple, and information is not complete.
Present a poor example of a summary structure. Do not attempt to follow the organization outline in the lesson.
TONE—
Summarize text objectively including main idea and relevant details
Points Possible: 5
Use a professional tone, using objective language in order to help balance opinions.
Use a more casual tone, with opinions presented subjectively.
Use a very subjective tone. Opinions and ideas are presented as definitive.
Do not attempt to use an objective tone to complete the summary.
Mechanics/Conventions
Points Possible: 5
Follow rules of spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation; three or fewer errors are present.
Mostly follow rules of spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation; 4-6 errors are present.
Show marked inconsistency in following the rules of spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation; 7-10 errors are present.
Fail to follow rules of spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation; over 11 errors are present.
