Summarise a Literary Text is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on summarising without retelling, aligned to Common Core standard RL.5.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 18 of them with different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
18 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.
Summarise a Literary Text
RL.5.2
NameDate
Read the text, then answer the questions.
1.Read the text, then answer the questions.
Pandora
The gods made Pandora and gave her, between them, everything: beauty, skill, a voice, curiosity.
They also gave her a jar, and told her not to open it. They did not say what was in it.
She kept it for a long time. The story is usually told as though she opened it immediately. She did not.
When she did lift the lid, out came sickness, hunger, grief and every trouble that has since been ordinary. She got the lid back on with one thing still inside.
That thing was hope. And people have argued for three thousand years about whether keeping it in was a mercy or the cruellest part of all.
1. Summarise this myth.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
The Mill: Ivy Sallow's Account
We knew by the thread.
You cannot work a loom for twenty-two years and not notice when the good cotton stops coming. From about the March, it was the cheap stuff, and it broke.
So we knew something. What we did not know was how long we had, and that is the part I mind.
I could have been looking. My sister found work in Derby that spring and asked me twice. I said the mill would see me out.
He stood on a crate on the Friday and told us. Somebody asked how long he had known. He said he would rather not say. That was the answer, really.
1. Summarise this account.
LessonPrint · RL.5.2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Summarise a Literary Text
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. The gods gave Pandora every gift including curiosity and a jar she must not open; when she finally did, every trouble escaped and only hope stayed in.
2.1. Ivy knew from the failing thread that the mill was struggling, turned down work in Derby, and learned the closure date only when Whately announced it on a Friday.
Questions about Summarise a Literary Text
What does the Summarise a Literary Text worksheet cover?
It practises summarising without retelling — 2 questions for Grade 5, all on Common Core RL.5.2: Find the theme through how characters respond, then summarise. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does Summarise a Literary Text practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 — RL.5.2, in the Reading: Literature domain for Grade 5. The published standard reads: “Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Summarise a Literary Text is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on RL.5.2, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Summarise a Literary Text come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Summarise a Literary Text can I print?
25 versions, of which 18 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is Summarise a Literary Text free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Summarise a Literary Text, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
More practice for RL.5.2
Find the theme through how characters respond, then summarise.