Retell or Summarize? Choosing the Right One

Decide when to retell all the events and when to summarize.

Retelling and summarizing are both useful, but for different jobs. Retell when someone wants to know the whole story, step by step, like a friend who missed the movie.

Summarize when someone wants the big idea quickly, like your teacher asking what a book was about. Here is the same story both ways. Retell: 'First, Bo lost his hat. Next, he looked in his room. Then he checked the yard. Last, he found it on the dog!

' Summary: 'Bo lost his hat and finally found it on his dog. ' Same story, different length.

• 1Retell to share the whole story in order.
• 2Summarize to share the big idea quickly.
• 3Pick the one that fits the job.