Na m e : ___ Date: _
Directions: Summarizing is not just for nonfiction. You can summarize a fiction story, too.
One strategy for doing this is to use the 5 W’s: Who? What? Where? When?
Why? Practice this strategy with the story below.The Greedy Brother
A thousand years ago there lived two Chinese brothers. One was very wealthy but miserly.
The other was poor but generous. The wealthy brother, whose name was Kim, spent all of his
time figuring out how to increase his wealth. The poor brother, whose name was Cho, shared
with his neighbors what little he had.
By and by came a time when it rained for many days. The rice in Cho’s little paddy would
not grow, for it was at the bottom of the hill. Kim, who raised silkworms, was not affected.
Cho climbed the hill to ask his brother for help.
Kim had many silkworms, whose thread he sold at a large profit. Kim did not want to give his
brother anything valuable, but only to appear to be helping him. Kim gave Cho a box of
worms that he thought were near dead. Cho thanked him and took them home.
Cho fed the worms generously with mulberry leaves and they grew fat and healthy. Soon Cho
had silk to sell. When Kim heard of this, he became enraged at his brother’s good fortune.
One night he sneaked down the hill and cut all Cho’s worms in half.
Instead of dying, each of Cho’s worms regenerated, so he had twice as
many as before. Upon hearing this, Kim became more enraged. He
went out into his own collection and cut all his own worms in
half. But, Kim’s worms died and he lost his fortune.
Cho never knew what his brother had done or why. He just took him
into his modest home and cared for Kim for the rest of his life.Who?______________________________________________________________________________
What?______________________________________________________________________________
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Where?_____________________________ When?_______________________________________
Why?______________________________________________________________________________
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