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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Identify Main Idea in a Story

For Teachers K
Help your kindergarteners identify the main idea in a story. Small groups work with the teacher to make predictions and draw conclusions. They are able to determine cause and effect relationships. The lesson is divided into several days,...
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Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Identifying the Main Idea in Fiction

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Discovering the main idea in fiction is like uncovering buried treasure; one must persevere to locate it, and the reward is priceless. Scholars delve deep into leveled stories using three questions to aid in identifying the main idea. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduce: Main Idea

For Teachers K - 3rd
Begin exploring main idea in a text by telling the class an interesting story. Can they recall the main idea after you finish? What clues told them this was it? Explain that you will apply this concept as you read a nonfiction book....
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Lesson Plan
Read Works

What's the Main Idea?

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
By sharing a summary about their favorite book or movie, your young readers can then discuss the main ideas of their beloved stories. The concept transitions to finding the main idea in poetry. Class members use textual clues in various...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Finding the Main Idea

For Students 1st - 2nd
The carnival is in town! After reading a short excerpt about a day at the carnival, learners use details to determine the story's main idea. They must differentiate the details from the big picture, as there are multiple options they can...
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Organizer
Curated OER

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Finding the Main Idea

For Students 8th - 9th
After reading chapter 17 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, give this graphic organizer to your kids to find the main idea. The circles are small and will probably spark complaints, but the main idea should never be lengthy; it should be...
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Lesson Plan
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4
For the Teachers

Main Idea Outline

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Find the main idea in an informational text with a versatile lesson. Three levels of differentiation help you implement the strategy in any age or class level, based on the ability and objectives of your learners.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading Strategies: Main Idea

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Identify the main idea and the supporting details of a story in a literacy resource from Discovery Education. Complete with procedures, vocabulary, and assessment activities, this is a great way for pupils to practice their outlining...
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PPT
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Olathe Public Schools

Topic, Main Idea, Supporting Detail, and Theme

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Get your class members thinking about a reading passage's topic, main idea, supporting details, and theme with this interactive presentation that asks scholars to define, locate, and review each term.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Guided Reading: Main Idea

For Teachers K - 4th
Readers are presented with a list of three questions and asked to actively listen to a story or article to answer them. They verbally answer the questions to learn the strategy. Next, read a story to them or have them silently read a...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Find the Main Idea: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Readers are asked to use the provided graphic organizer to list the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classifying Information About a Main Idea

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Elementary learners explore language arts by completing a text identification activity. They discuss the importance of a main idea in a story or paper and how to present it properly. Then they practice identifying the main idea in sample...
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PPT
Saddleback College

How to Find the Main Idea

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
What's the difference between the main idea of a text and the topic? Take kids through the process of literary analysis with a presentation about finding the main idea and supporting details. Additionally, it guides learners through...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's the Big Idea

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Discuss the concept of main idea in a story or other reading material. Middle schoolers identify the main idea in a passage using a technique that eliminates unnecessary words not relevant to the main idea.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Finding the Main Idea: Little Women

For Students 8th - 10th
Whether or not your class is reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, you can use this exercise as the basis of a mini-lesson on how to determine the main idea of a passage or as a pre-test to assess mastery of the skill. A graphic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comprehension: Identify the Main Idea from Text

For Teachers 1st
Children in first grade listen and read along with the teacher to practice main idea identification. They use the provided reading passages to read, locate the main idea and supporting details. This is a fully scripted instructional...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build Mastery: Main Idea

For Teachers K - 4th
Use a graphic organizer to get readers thinking about main ideas as they record the who, what, where, when, and why of a story. Consider modeling this process completely before kids do this independently. They fill in five boxes charting...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Pictures to Support the Main Idea

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders practice using photos to support the main idea. In this reading comprehension lesson, 2nd graders read and explore the photos in the book, Amazing Tigers! Students examine the photos to identify and support the main idea....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Identifying Main Idea and Supporting Details - The Stonecutter's Wish

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify details that support the theme of a story.  In this main idea or theme lesson, students view a video of "The Stonecutter's Wish."  Students are given a graphic organizer to use as they discuss the main idea of the...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Close Reading of Waiting for the Biblioburro: Finding the Main Message and Taking Notes

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Expose your class to Waiting for the Biblioburro, narrative nonfiction that will act as the bridge between ficiton and informational texts to come. Class members do a close reading of the text, looking at excerpts instead of the whole...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Elaborating the Main Idea, Using Supporting Details

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Which Story Matches the Given Theme?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Model for young learners how to determine the theme of a story. Read aloud Aesop’s The Fox and the Stork. Chart the plot and the main idea of the fable, showing class members how these elements support the theme. Fable titles for guided...
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Worksheet
E Reading Worksheets

Main Idea Worksheet 5

For Students 4th - 8th
Did you know that Marie Curie's papers, as well as her cookbook, are radioactive and stored in lead-lined boxes? Did you know that Nikola Tesla developed a death ray? Famous scientists and inventors are the subjects featured in a series...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Printing and Publishing

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Explore African literature and artwork in a multicultural literacy and art lesson plan. Begin with a read aloud of Tiger and the Big Wind: A Tale from Africa, and afterward, have kids retell the main events in the story. They identify...