5th - 8th Grade Summarize and Retell Worksheets

Paraphrasing is all about summing up a lengthy text, and it can be a great way to help your child hone reading comprehension skills.

Use this resource to read a nonfiction passage about sharks and write a summary.

Teach your students to write a simple summary using an easy-to-follow set of keywords.

Use this simple organizer to help students track and record key ideas when reading and summarizing nonfiction texts.

Introduce readers to the poem “When I Was One-and-Twenty” by English poet A. E. Housman with this sixth-grade worksheet! 

Introduce readers to the poem "The Song of Wandering Aengus" by William Butler Yeats with this poetry analysis worksheet!
 

Use this worksheet to encourage critical thinking and support students’ literacy development by asking questions before, during, and after reading.

Students will use the Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then structure to summarize a short fiction text.

Practice writing nonfiction summaries as you read and learn about an interesting ocean creature.

Unwind the complicated language of the Declaration of Independence with this paraphrasing activity!

Young readers will practice synthesizing information from multiple sources on the same topic in this reading comprehension worksheet.

Students will use the Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then strategy of writing fiction summaries with these reading passages.

Young readers will practice synthesizing information from multiple sources on the same topic in this reading comprehension worksheet.

Learn about a mysterious sea creature as you pick out important information for a nonfiction summary.

Read about the westward expansion of the United States and respond to questions about the informational text.

After reading a short story, your students will practice writing a simple summary.

Use this Novel Discussion Guide for Parents as a guide to invite your child into a book discussion about their latest reading!

Introduce young learners to Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb Mount Everest and all of the Seven Summits, with this worksheet.

This activity guides your readers towards the key details and shows kids how to effectively underline while reading.

Learn a fun reading strategy and practice writing fiction summaries using a classic text.

Help your EL students will practice differentiating between big ideas and details.

Students will cite stanzas from beginning, middle, and ending portions of their poetry readings and share thoughts, feelings, and ideas about the text.

Help your EL students identify big ideas before they write short summaries.

First thing's first: if your kid has a reading assignment, start by stating just the facts on this essential-info sheet.

Practice reading comprehension with "A Mad Tea Party," an exciting chapter from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, then make it into a mini-book.

After reading Jim Murphy's novel The Great Fire, allow students to engage with the book with this thoughtful letter-writing extension activity!

Students will provide details of cause and effect events directly related to theme.

Students practice using keywords to prepare for summary writing.

After finishing Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, students give thought to the various settings in the story with this creative post-reading prompt!

Students imagine a hypothetical interview with Malala Yousafzai, using their research skills to form and answer thoughtful interview questions.