Scaffold for Summary Writing - A Peer Review focusing on Paraphrasing and Use of Linking Words

This is intended as an exercise to prepare pupils for the summary writing component of IGCSE English as a Second Language Paper but it will be useful as a scaffold for any pupils - first and second language - who need to develop strategies for this fairly challenging part of the exam. It is an area where marks can easily be lost.
Pupils will have already been taught what paraphrasing is and the fundamentals of how to join sentences using linking words (Although, However, Even though, Not only… But also… etc.) and will have practised this at sentence level. Moving on they will be provided with the same texts to summarise (possibly from past papers) and will then swap their writing moving clockwise and peer asses each piece of work, thereby learning from each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Please note that the actual IGCSE exam mark scheme awards marks for content and language use and does not correspond exactly with this example. This is designed to highlight and bring to the fore the underlying skills.