Mastering Main Idea

Learning Context

Goals/Purpose:

• To have students become more fluent and effective readers by gaining a better knowledge and understanding of main idea and supporting details.
• Using prior knowledge of the elements of a story.
  

Enduring Understanding:

• Prior knowledge of the elements and components of a story can be used to boost reading comprehension.
• Creating a graphic organizer is a good way to become familiar with identifying main idea and supporting details.
  

Essential Question:

• How does a writer use supporting details to express the main idea of a story?

Guiding Questions:

• What is the importance of uncovering the main idea and details of a story?
• How can decoding help us become more effective readers?
• Which sentence generally states the main idea?
• How are all other sentences in a paragraph related to the main idea?

Diagnostic/Summative Questions:

• What is main idea?
• What are supporting details?
• How do you determine the main idea AND supporting details of a paragraph or passage?
• How can graphic organizers help to organize ideas?

Objectives:

• Students will be able to construct a graphic organizer in which they identify the main ideas and supporting details of an informational text.
• Students will be able to read the informational text, “In the Hot Sand.”
• Students will be able to answer questions about main idea and details on the weekly selection test.
  

Grade Level/Ability:

This learning experience is designed for students in 4th grade. All students are taught in the regular classroom, but the class is broken up into reading groups. There are five boys and three girls in this reading group. The students in this reading group work from the Triumphs Reading series. This reading series, published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill is considered an Intervention Program. It is a modified version of the Treasures series the regular education students work from. There are 12 other students in this particular classroom.

Overview of What Students Need to Know:

In order for students to successfully complete the objectives of this learning experience, students need to recognize the following:

• Main idea is defined as the most important point of a paragraph or section.
• The main idea is generally in the first part of the paragraph or section (if not the first sentence).
• The supporting details give information that supports the main idea.

The final product of this learning experience requires students to:

• Follow written directions and to execute them correctly and neatly on a graphic organizer.
• Use their knowledge of literature to place the main ideas in sequential order.
• Utilize their creativity and neatness by cutting and gluing.
• Draw upon the classroom experiences and previous lessons to complete the task.

Classroom Layout

Classroom Rules
Classroom rules are essential. The rules for whole group instruction also apply to group work to reduce distractions.

The classroom rules are the following:
1. Please keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself at all times.
2. Remain quiet while others are speaking.
3. Put all materials in their proper places.
4. Follow directions the first time they are given.

Procedures for when students follow/break the rules:
Students who follow the rules and are attentive in reading group may be presented with a bonus point ticket. This bonus ticket is good toward earning prizes. If students break the rules in the reading group, they will first be verbally warned. If the student continues to break a rule, he or she will be warned a second time, or moved away from the particular distraction he or she may be encountering. If the student must be talked to a third time, he or she will be asked to leave the reading group and work independently on the lesson.

Letter home about the experience
Parents are made aware of the scope and sequence of the lesson, and encouraged to work with their child on discovering main idea and details with work that is sent home.