Lesson Summary: Students will describe their favorite book or movie to a partner using only 1-2 sentences for the pre-assessment. The teacher will then read “The Two Goats on the Mountain” to students. Students will fill out a graphic organizer that includes a main idea and supporting details as a class for “The Two Goats on the Mountain.” For guided practice, students will complete a main idea worksheet in pairs. For independent practice, students will work in pairs to read a passage and record the main idea and supporting details on a graphic organizer. Advanced students will select a passage to read and write its main idea and supporting details on a graphic organizer. They will then make a kite or other structure out of construction paper and write the supporting details and main idea on the kite (or other structure). Struggling students will use a graphic organizer to help them make a card for a friend or relative.
Lesson Understandings:
The students will know…
· What main idea is.
· What supporting details are.
· That the main idea is supported by details.
The students will be able to…
· Identify the main idea in a reading passage.
· Identify supporting details in a reading passage.
· Use a graphic organizer to separate the supporting details from the main idea.
Learning Styles Targeted:
Visual / Auditory / Kinesthetic/Tactile
Pre-Assessment: Tell students to write down the main idea of their favorite book or movie using only 1-2 sentences on a sheet of paper. Then, have students share their main idea with a partner. Model this activity for students by telling the students the main idea of your favorite book. For example, you could say, “My favorite book is Charlotte’s Web, which is a story about a spider who befriends a pig and saves him from being killed.”
Whole-Class Instruction
Materials Needed: Teaching Points PowerPoint*, computer and projector, 1 small whiteboard per student, 1 dry-erase marker per student, 1 tissue per student, 1 copy of the Guided Practice Graphic Organizer* per student, Guided Practice Graphic Organizer document* to project, 1 copy of the Independent Practice Graphic Organizer* per student
Procedure:
1) Project the first slide of the Teaching Points PowerPoint. Tell students that today they will learn about main idea and supporting details. Move onto the next slide and ask students, “What is main idea?” Get them to understand that the main idea is what a passage is mostly about. On the next slide, ask students, “What are supporting details?” Get them to understand that supporting details are sentences that explain, or support, the main idea. Explain to students that the main idea and supporting details are like a table. The main idea is like a tabletop because it covers all of the supporting details, and the supporting details are like the table legs because they support the main idea. Together, the main idea and the supporting details form a paragraph, just like the tabletop and legs form a table. Use the fourth slide as a visual.
2) Discuss with the students why main ideas and supporting details are important. Use the fifth slide to assist you. Then go over, the students’ goals for the day, which are outlined on slide 6.
3) Hand each student a small whiteboard, a dry-erase marker, and a tissue. Guide the students in identifying main ideas and supporting details using slides 7-9. On each slide, read aloud the story to students, and then ask the students the question. Have students write the letter of their answer on their whiteboard. Call on students and have them explain their answers. If many students are getting the answers wrong, reteach the lesson as necessary. For each passage, ask the students:
· Who or what is the passage mainly/mostly about?
· What idea do all or most of the sentences talk about?
· Which sentences go into more detail/explain the main idea?
Note: The PowerPoint is set up so that when you click on the incorrect answer, a voltage sound plays, and when you click on the correct answer, an applause sound plays.
4) After reading aloud the passage to students, hand each student the Guided Practice Graphic Organizer. Project the document for the students so that you can model the activity for the students.
5) Tell students that you are going to help them fill out the graphic organizer with the main idea and supporting details of the “Mangoes” passage. Read the paragraph aloud to the students. Then, ask students, “What is this passage mostly about?” and “What idea do all or most of the sentences talk about?” If students answer, “Mangoes,” ask them, “What about mangoes?” Get them to understand that the main subject of the paragraph is mangoes, but the main idea is a sentence about mangoes. Record their answers on the whiteboard or on chart paper. Then, test each of their main idea statements by having the students go through and see if most or all of the sentences in the paragraph support the main idea statement. Once you find a main idea statement that is supported by most or all of the sentences in the paragraph, record the sentence in the main idea space on the projected graphic organizer, and have the students do the same on their copy.
6) Now tell students that they are going to back to the passage to find some details that support the main idea. Ask students, “Which sentences go into more detail/explain/support the main idea?” Have the students go through the paragraph and underline all of the supporting sentences they see. Then, ask students which sentences they underlined. Students should have underlined all of them. Point out to students that this is a sure sign they have the right main idea. Select five of the supporting details and record them on the projected graphic organizer. Have the students do the same on their copy.
7) For continued practice, hand each student a copy of the Independent Practice Graphic Organizer. Have students read the passage and fill out the graphic organizer. Students may work independently or with a partner.
Advanced Learner
Materials Needed: Advanced Learner Story Options* (1 per student), 1 Main Graphic Organizer* per student, a premade kite, construction paper, scissors, glue, and yarn
Procedure:
1) Before class, make a kite out of construction paper and yarn to show students. Cut out a kite-shaped diamond from a piece of construction paper, and then attach a piece of yarn to the bottom of the diamond-shaped paper. Then, create “ribbons” from construction paper and glue those to the bottom of the diamond-shaped paper or to the yarn. Write the main idea of the passage from the Guided Practice Graphic Organizer on the main part of the kite. Then, write the supporting details on the ribbons.
2) Pair up the advanced learners, and have each pair of students read a passage from a textbook or one of the stories from the Advanced Learner Story Options.
3) Have students fill out a Main Graphic Organizer with the main idea and supporting details for the passage. Check each student’s main idea and supporting details for accuracy.
4) Show students your premade kite. Give them the option of making a kite or a similar structure that has a main part and supporting parts (e.g., a table, a chair, a hand, etc.).
5) Give students access to construction paper, scissors, glue, and yarn. Have students write the main idea of their passage on the main part of their structure and the supporting details on the supporting parts of their structure.
6) If students are making another structure (not a kite), make sure they tell you what they want to create first so that you can approve it.
7) Have students present their structures to the class and put them on display in the classroom.
Struggling Learner
Materials Needed: Teaching Points PowerPoint*, 1 copy of the Concept Graphic Organizer* per student, chart paper, 1 copy of the Main Graphic Organizer* per student, construction paper, scissors, writing utensils, and art supplies
Procedure:
1) Review the Teaching Points PowerPoint with the students. Hand each student a copy of the Concept Graphic Organizer, and guide students in writing definitions for main idea and supporting details. Students can refer to this sheet if they ever need a reminder about what main idea and supporting details mean.
2) On chart paper, present the following sentence (or a similar sentence they could relate to) to students: “All schools should have recess.” Ask students if they agree with this sentence. Hopefully, most of them will raise their hands. Then ask them, “Why should all schools have recess?” Record their responses on the chart paper. Then point out to them that they have just given you supporting details for your main idea sentence.
3) Give each student a Main Graphic Organizer. Have the students write a main idea about a friend or family member that is positive (e.g., “My sister is a great athlete.”) and then brainstorm the details that support the main idea (e.g., “My sister won first place in a diving competition.” “She is on the high school track team.”). Assist the students as needed.
4) As an optional activity, students can then turn the graphic organizer into a card. Give each student a sheet of construction paper, and have them fold it in half. On the front of the card, each student should write the main idea. On the inside, each student should write the details that prove the main idea. Students can decorate their card to give to the person the card is about.
*see supplemental resources
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