Materials: Pens, Worksheets, Paper

A. Phillips

7/8 English

Period 2

June 28, 2010

Objective: TSW analyze text to identify supporting details and infer the subsequent main idea. (DoK 3, 2.b.1, 2.b.2)

Materials: pens, worksheets, paper

Do Now (4 minutes): Identify which word represents the general idea for each word group.

a) jealousy, hatred, emotion, worry

b) spiders, cockroaches, mosquitoes, insects

c) chemistry, science, physics, biology

Set (8 minutes):

“Imagine you will be going on a trip to someplace you've never been. It is far away but I have the ticket right here in my hand. In preparation for your trip you've been given a credit card and you can go to the mall to buy whatever you will need on the trip. Write a shopping list of everything you will have to buy. Be prepared to share your list.”

[Give students 2-3 minutes to write their lists.]

Have some students share their lists. Then reveal to them that the destination of the trip is Antarctica and show how their lists weren’t adequate because they didn’t have all of the information they needed. The main idea/point is essential to understanding a story or any other piece of writing.

Procedure:

1. TSW write down the definition of main and supporting details on their worksheet.(4 minutes)

-Topic: the subject of the whole paragraph; can usually be summarized in just one or two words.

-Main Idea – what a piece of writing is mostly about; the message, opinion or idea that a writer wants to communicate.

-Supporting Details – the facts that explain the main idea or make it more clear

-The main idea is often stated as a sentence at the very beginning of a paragraph, sometimes the end, very infrequently in the middle.

2. TTW/TSW read sample paragraphs aloud to identify the main idea of each one and complete worksheets. [guided practice, 5 minutes]

3. TSW continue individual practice of the worksheet. [individual practice, 7 minutes]

4. TTW/TSW read longer stor(ies) and identify main idea and supporting details of the passage.[individual practice, 15 minutes]

5. TTW/TSW review as a group the main idea and supporting details.(5 minutes)

Closure (3 minutes):

Restate: We know that the main idea is whatever the writing is mostly about; it’s the message the author wants to communicate.

Ask: Where does one usually find the main idea in a paragraph? What do the supporting details do for the main idea?

State: Identifying the main idea is a very important element of reading. Without knowing the main idea, reading is almost pointless. Tomorrow we will learn about inferences, another important element of reading.

Objective:TSW analyze text to identify supporting details and infer the subsequent main idea. (DoK 3, 2.b.1, 2.b.2)

Informal Assessment:TTW walk around observe students (M) and check that they are filling out their Main Idea worksheet correctly(C).

Formal Assessment: TSW fill out their worksheet (M) covering the main and supporting ideas of paragraphs and (C) and the worksheet will be recorded for a grade in the gradebook (D). TSW be tested (M) on Main Idea and other reading concepts (C) at the end of a unit long test to be recorded in the gradebook (D).

Name:______

Teacher:______

Date:______

Identifying the Main Idea

Write in the definitions of the following terms:

Topic:

Main Idea:

Supporting Details:

Answer the questions following each paragraph.

1.Pirates weren’t always men. One famous woman pirate was called Anne Bonny. Anne disguised herself as a man and joined a band of pirates around 1700. She was respected by many pirates for being so fierce. Nobody really knows what happened to Anne Bonny, but some people think she died as a pioneer in America.

1a. What is the topic of the paragraph?

1b. What is the main idea of the paragraph? (Answer in a complete sentence.)

2. The Vikings were sailors from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They are known mostly as raiders, but they also traded and explored. One of their greatest things were their ships that could handle long ocean voyages. Clearly the Vikings were interesting people.

2a. What is the topic of the paragraph?

2b. What is the main idea of the paragraph? (Answer in a complete sentence.)

3.Chimpanzees live in groups called communities. Each community has it

an alpha leader (the strongest male). Male chimpanzees will ﬁght each other to be the alpha male. Communities guard their territories, and they will ﬁght each other to keep their territory safe.

3a. What is the topic of the paragraph?

3b. What is the main idea of the paragraph? (Answer in a complete sentence.)

4.Do you like playing checkers? Children in ancient Egypt had many games they liked to play. Some were ﬁtness games like hockey, but they used palm tree branches for sticks. Other games were board games, such as Dogs and Jackals. Senet was another game many people enjoyed.

4a. What is the topic of the paragraph?

4b. What is the main idea of the paragraph? (Answer in a complete sentence.)

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Atlantis reaches the International Space Station

The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday. The shuttle is delivering new equipment to the ISS, including a new solar array, or set of solar panels.

Adding different parts to the ISS is an important step to maintaining a human presence in space. On Wednesday, astronauts Steve Swanson and Patrick Forrester participated in the mission's second space walk to help with construction.

Forrester and Swanson got to work removing an old solar array to make room for the new one. The new solar array will help to provide more power for the station.

The new array will be able to follow the sun and convert sunlight into electricity for the station. It is capable of generating enough power for 10 homes!

Clayton Anderson, a member of the crew, will not return home with the rest of the Atlantis crew. Anderson will stay on the ISS for four months, taking the place of Sunita Williams. Williams, who has lived on the ISS since December, will return to Earth aboard Atlantis.

Atlantis was originally supposed to launch in March but the mission was delayed when a hailstorm caused damage to the fuel tank.

Mission Extended

NASA decided to extend the 11-day mission to 13 days to make repairs to the shuttle. During take off from the Kennedy Space Center, a four-inch section of thermal blanket—near the shuttle's tail—was torn. The thermal blanket is used to protect the shuttle from very high heat when the shuttle re-enters Earth's atmosphere.

Astronauts will likely use a special kind of sewing kit to fix the blanket. Crew members are expected to fix the tears during a space walk on Friday or Saturday.

Name:______

Teacher:______

Date:______

Comprehension Questions for “Space Shuttle Atlantis”

1. What is this article mostly about?

2. What is a solar array? What does it do?

3. Why are astronauts adding parts to the International Space Station?

4. Why was the Atlantis mission delayed?

5. Which detail is most important to the main idea of this article?

A. The new solar array can generate enough electricity for ten homes.

B. Sunita Williams, an astronaut, is going to leave the space station on the Atlantis.

C. The Atlantis is bringing a new set of solar panels to the space station.

D. Astronauts are going to use a special sewing kit to repair the thermal blanket on the Atlantis.

6. What is the main idea of the section titled “Mission Extended?”

Name ______ANSWER KEY______

Group Practice – “Space Shuttle Atlantis”

1. What is this article mostly about?

The Space Shuttle Atlantis docking with the International Space Station.

2. What is a solar array? What does it do?

It is a group of solar panels. It converts sunlight into electricity.