Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What SL.5.2 Means in Plain English
Fifth graders listen to a passage read aloud, watch a short video or study a chart, then say back the main points in a few sentences of their own. A bar graph of idling cars becomes “After the signs went up, idling cars fell from 26 to 9.”
Fourth graders (SL.4.2) paraphrase portions of what they hear and see. Fifth grade asks for the whole of it in brief: the main idea and the details that matter, whether they arrive as words, numbers or pictures. Sixth grade (SL.6.2) asks how that information adds to the topic.
SL.5.2 I Can Statements
I can sum up a read-aloud in a few sentences of my own.
I can say what a chart or graph shows, not just how it looks.
I can sum up the main points of a video or a talk.
SL.5.2 Worked Example
Two students summed up the same read-aloud and graph out loud. Only the strong one turns the bars into a finding and links it to the article.
Prompt
The teacher reads aloud a short article on why drivers should switch off their engines instead of idling, then shows a bar graph of the cars the class counted idling in the afternoon pickup line: 26 on the first count, and 9 a week after the class put up “Turn off your engine” signs. Summarize both for a classmate who was absent.
Not YetCars are bad for the air and they use a lot of gas. My grandpa’s truck is super loud when he picks me up. The graph had two bars and the first one was way taller.A loose fact, a story from home and a description of how the graph looks instead of what it shows. The absent classmate still doesn’t know what the article argued or what the count found.
Meets the StandardThe article said drivers waiting at school should turn off their engines. A car that sits running burns gas without going anywhere, and its exhaust goes right into the air kids breathe while they wait. Our count shows the signs worked. We counted 26 cars idling in the pickup line the first time, and only 9 a week after we put up the “Turn off your engine” signs. So one simple reminder cut idling by almost two thirds, which means less exhaust where we wait.The article’s point comes first, with the two reasons behind it. The graph becomes a finding with its numbers, and the last sentence ties the count back to the article’s point.
Moves to Use
Open with the point of the whole read-aloud in one sentence.Keep only the reasons and details that support that point.Read a graph for what changed and by how much, not for how it looks.Join the sources with a bridge like “Our count shows the signs worked.”
Common Mistakes with SL.5.2
Describing the graph instead of reading it
“There were two bars and one was taller.”
Try this: Ask “So what changed, and by how much?” until the student says the numbers and what they mean for the topic.
Retelling the read-aloud from the top
“First it said… then it said… then it said…” for two minutes
Try this: Cap the summary at three sentences, and have students jot two words per paragraph while they listen to the read-aloud.
Adding their own stories
“My grandpa’s truck is super loud when he picks me up.”
Try this: Teach one test: could someone who heard the same read-aloud check this sentence? If not, it stays out of the summary.
Classroom TimerFree ToolRun a one-minute summary round after a read-aloud: each partner gets sixty seconds to sum it up while the other listens for the main idea.1-minute turnsPartner talkAfter a read-aloud
Random Name PickerFree ToolAfter a video clip or a chart, spin a name for the first summary, then spin again for a classmate to add the detail it missed.After a videoAdd a detail
What is the main idea of the read-aloud in the example?
Drivers waiting at school should turn off their engines, because idling burns gas for nothing and puts exhaust into the air children breathe.
What does the graph show, in one sentence?
The class counted 26 cars idling at pickup, and only 9 a week after the “Turn off your engine” signs went up.
Which sentences of the strong summary connect the article to the graph?
“Our count shows the signs worked,” and the closing line: “So one simple reminder cut idling by almost two thirds, which means less exhaust where we wait.”