Lesson plan
Reading to Find the Main Idea and Details
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to identify the main idea and supporting details of a short informational text.
Introduction
(5 minutes)
- Lead a brief discussion with students on why it is important to read and comprehend informational text.
- Tell students that it is not only important to read informational text from textbooks, but also from their peers.
- Explain to the students they will be reading and analyzing an essay about football written by a middle school student.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(10 minutes)- Show students a teacher model of the Bubble Story Organizer with the main idea and supporting details of a text, previously shared whole-class.
- Point out how the noted details support the main idea and clarify any questions students may have.
- Arrange students into pairs and explain that they will be partner reading the essay. Suggest that a good way to partner read is to take turns reading paragraphs.
- Hand out The Football Game worksheet to each student.
- Hand out a highlighter to each student.
- Tell students that they will be reading to find the main idea and supporting details.
Guided Practice
(15 minutes)- Tell students that when they are done reading, they need to raise their hands, then go on to complete numbers 1 and 2.
- While the students are partner reading and completing numbers 1 and 2, walk around the room to make sure students are staying on task. Help when needed.
- As students start to raise their hands, scan their work to make sure they underlined the main idea and highlighted at least five supporting details.
- If students are ready to go on to number 3, have them return to their own seats and give them each a copy of the Bubble Story Organizer.
Independent working time
(10 minutes)- Have students complete the Bubble Story Organizer (number 3) independently.
Differentiation
- Enrichment: Challenge above level students to research an interesting subject and work on an essay outline for it between activities.
- Support Pair a student who needs support with a student who understands the lesson content.
Assessment
(5 minutes)- Use the Bubble Story Organizer as an informal assessment tool.
Review and closing
(10 minutes)- Have the students share facts from the essay that they did not know before, or that they found interesting.
- Have the students share topics they might choose to write essays about.
Related learning resources
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