Finding Keywords

Summarising the Main Idea

Good readers notice keywords.  Here are some clues to help you find keywords:

• Key words are directly connected to the topic
• Key words are often repeated in the title and the text
• A key word helps you to remember an important idea

Use a Highlighter to mark key words

The tiniest baby in Japan

He is believed to be the smallest boy in the world to have been successfully treated.

The baby was born by emergency C-section in August at just 24 weeks (normal pregnancy is 40 weeks). He was so small he could fit into a pair of cupped hands.

He was released last week, two months after his due date.

He has grown to a weight of 3.2kg, about average size for a newborn baby. 3.2kg is twelve times his birth weigh.

Summarising the Main Idea

L.I. To look for keywords and phrases

Use this table to help you summarise the main ideas in a text in your own words.  It is important that you use your own words to show your understanding and to avoid plagiarism.  If you don’t know what some words mean, look them up.

Keywords from the title

Keywords from sub headings

New words I need to look up

Read the text and record key words/phrases that answer these questions:

What? The Japan people are having babies that are very small

Where? In Japan

When? in August 2004 at just 24 weeks

Who? The japan women

Why? Because the japan  women wanted to have a better life without men.

How? You have a mother and a father

Now using the words you wrote down summarise the text in 25 words or less.

Babies that were born small

babies preemies generally are smaller and weigh less than other newborns. A preemie's weight will largely depend on how early he or she was born. The time an infant missed being in the womb was growing time, so the baby has to do that growing after birth.