WHAT’S IT MOSTLY ABOUT?
GAME SHOW!
One of you will be the host. The others will form two teams. (Make sure that you keep switching who is the host).
The host will read the excerpt of text to one team. The team will try to figure out what this passage is mostly about (main idea/central message/theme /moral). If they do not figure out what it seems to be mostly about, the other team can try to figure it out. Then the host reads an excerpt to the other team. After the host reads two cards, a new player must become the host.
If you would like to keep score, you can score a team 1 point for figuring out a main idea/central message/theme/moral.
Excerpts
#1
Do you eat breakfast every day? Researchers have found that people who eat a balanced breakfast are likely to be healthier than those who don’t. One reason is that most people eat whole grains at breakfast, and these promote good health. Breakfast also tend to have fewer weight problems than those who skip the meal. People who don’t eat breakfast usually eat too much later in the day. Often, these foods are not healthy and can cause weight gain problems. So, be sure to eat breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day.
People may be healthier if they make sure to eat a nutritious breakfast each day.
#2
When the first train tracks were put into place across the entire United States in 1869, officials had a problem. Each town along the way set its clock by the noonday sun. So, the time was never exactly the same from place to place. It was hard to have a reliable train schedule with this system. So, in 1883, railroad owners, scientists, and businessmen came up with four time zones across the country: Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time, and Pacific Time. This new system was called Standard Railway Time. Today, these are the time zones in use across the United States.
The time zones in the United States were invented because officials wanted to create a better, more reliable train system.
#3
I visit schools often and talk with children about my job. Once in a while they’ll ask personal questions, such as “What’s your favorite food?” and “What are your hobbies?” Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite food. Why? Because it tastes good and because—admit it—spaghetti is funny food. And reading is my favorite hobby. Reading, however, can be dangerous. When you are deeply absorbed in a book, you stop paying attention to what’s going on around you. People describe it as being “lost in a book.” It’s a wonderful feeling, but it can be hazardous.
One day, when I was a teenager, I was home alone doing two of my favorite things: I was eating a huge plate of spaghetti and meatballs, and I was reading…At the time, my family had a pet bird—a big white cockatoo named Luke….As I was reading and eating, Luke was
chuckling away, talking to me, but I wasn’t paying attention to him. I was lost in my book.So Luke decided to get closer. He flew from his perch, and before I knew it, he’d landed right on top of my spaghetti and meatballs !I was so surprised—I didn’t even have time to
think. My reaction was the same as yours would be: I shooed him off my food! This wouldn’t have been so bad except for one thing: When
Luke had landed on my plate, he had grabbed spaghetti with both feet. So when Luke took off again, the spaghetti—still tangled in his
feet—went flying everywhere.
Losing focus when reading can be dangerous.
#4
Hello, I'm Mr. Obvious.
I point out things you know.
I'll tell you that the water's wet.
I'll say that plants can grow.
I might remark that night is dark.
I'll add that grass is green.
And I'll repeat that sugar's sweet
and washing makes you clean.
I'll let you know that snails are slow,
and one plus one is two,
and then declare that squares are square
and state the sky is blue.
You see, I'm kind, so I don't mind
explaining simple things.
And when I do this just for you
I love the joy it brings.
So take a chair and let me share,
and when my lecture ends,
I hope you'll try to tell me why
I don't have any friends.
Those that think they know everything may not really.
Things that seem obvious, really aren’t always.
#5
I kept glancing at the clock while I played my Mazecrawler game on the computer. Maybe Randy forgot that he was supposed to come over with a brand new game. Or maybe he was just late, like usual. I was thinking about calling when I heard my Mom holler, “Dennis, Randy’s here.” A second later he came blazing into my bedroom and whipped off his backpack. “Check this out,” he said, taking a package out of the pack. “Realm of the Darkmaster,” I read off the cover. “I’ve never even heard of this this one. “Me neither. But I found this really neat little store over on Sixth Street and the guy in charge told me that this was the coolest game ever made! It’s the test version, so he gave it to me for free! C’mon, let’s play!” Randy is in sixth grade with me and he’s probably the number one computer freak in the school. If anyone could find the coolest computer game in the world, it would be him. I popped the disk into my CD ROM drive and waited for it to install. But instead the screen went completely black. Then a face slowly began to appear on it.
The face was thin, pale and completely hairless not even eyebrows and the way it seemed to be looking right at me gave me the willies.“I am the Darkmaster,” the face said, “and I challenge you to enter to my realm, if you dare. Click on the green shield and you will be taken on an amazing adventure, but beware: there is only one way out. Are you smart enough and brave enough to discover the secret?” The face then started to laugh, which made the hairs on my neck stand up. I was about to suggest playing something else when Randy clicked on the green shield icon.
Realm of the Darkmaster may be much more than just a game.
Tips for Teachers:
- If you see your students do not seem to notice important details, you might want to teach them to search recurring details.
- If you see your students are having trouble figuring out the main idea, have them look for the details first and then ask themselves, “What do these details show? What is this mostly about?”
- If you see your students are having difficulty comprehending due to the text complexity level, have them search for words that reoccur and say to themselves, “When I put these words together, what is it telling me?”