Main Idea and Details in Nonfiction Text

Introduction

• Show students the cover of a nonfiction book with a simple topic (e.g. a book about bees, spiders, reptiles, or whales). Make sure the cover of the book has a picture of the topic that will be covered in the book.
• Ask students to look at the cover of the book and then instruct them to close their eyes. Say, "I just showed you the cover of a nonfiction book. Nonfiction books are about real topics! Now, I'm going to say three words. I want you to raise your hand when I say the word that you think matches the topic of the book." Then, for example, if you chose a book about spiders, your three words could be: bees, spiders, cats.
• Record tally marks on the whiteboard that represent student responses. Clarify the correct answer and explain that the topic of a nonfiction book is a word or phrase. Explain that the topic of a nonfiction book can sometimes be found by searching for repeated words throughout the text or looking at the title of the book. Reinforce to students that they can also use pictures as clues to help them figure out the topic of a book.
• Explain that today students will be learning how to identify the topic, main idea, and key details of a nonfiction text or book.