K12 Reader
Find the Main Idea: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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.
K12 Reader
"How Do I Love Thee?" Supporting Ideas
Show your class what poem the famous line "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" comes from. Class members read Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem and respond to one question with a short paragraph. The question asks learners to use...
Curated OER
Convey Ideas in Writing
Use the platforms of the 2004 presidential candidates to bring persuasive writing to your class. Young voters identify the three issues most important to them in the election and research the issues and candidates' positions. They write...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Main Ideas about the Bullfrog
As your class reaches the end of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the seventh lesson in this literary unit helps third graders transition from reading narrative to expository writing. Scholars develop their note-taking skills as...
State University of New York
Going Back in Time Using “George Washington’s Socks”
After reading Elvira Woodruff's George Washington's Socks, young readers and writers embark upon writing their own historically based story, with a focus on developing ideas and details throughout the piece. In small groups, class...
K12 Reader
Ben Franklin
Readers are asked to use the provided graphic organizer to list the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage about the inventions of Benjamin Franklin.
K12 Reader
Anne of Green Gables
A passage from Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables provides young readers with an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in a paragraph.
Curated OER
10 Fresh Ideas to Get Your Students Writing
Here are some enticing writing ideas that will motivate any student.
K12 Reader
David Copperfield
High schoolers use the provided graphic organizer to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield.
Polk Bros Foundation
Collect Evidence to Support an Idea
In order to support an idea, writers must use evidence. Your class members can prepare their evidence with this basic worksheet. Writers note down the topic they are learning about and their own idea. Next, they come up with information...
Curated OER
Find the Main Idea
Can your class find the main idea for the short passages provided here? Not only do they identify the main idea out of four selections, but they must also write a supporting idea for their choice. The answer sheet provides example...
EngageNY
Main Ideas in Informational Text: Analyzing a Firsthand Human Rights Account for Connections to Specific Articles of the UDHR
Lesson 10 in a series of human rights lessons focuses on the skills of finding evidence and summarizing. Your young readers work to compare the two texts they have read in this unit: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
Curated OER
Writing Classroom Agreements using Inspiration & Word to Go
How can you foster a thoughtful learning community for your class? First, the class brainstorms a list of behaviors that will help make the classroom a great place to learn. Then learners group similar ideas together and come up with...
EngageNY
Synthesizing Information: Writing an Apprentice Wanted Ad
Fourth graders view examples of help-wanted ads as they plan and create their own writing in the fourteenth instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. The engagement of the class is captured when the teacher shares an actual...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Music and the Brain
Even if you've never picked up a musical instrument, chances are that music has directly impacted your mental and emotional development. Sixth graders engage in a reading activity in which they read two articles on the impact of music on...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Identify a Nonfiction Writer's Main Idea and Supporting Examples
Use this page to quickly identify the central idea of a text and organize ideas for writing an informational or explanatory text. The worksheet is split into two parts. In the first part, pupils note down the main idea and supporting...
Odell Education
Reading Closely For Textual Details: Grade 8
Only a thorough understanding of history can save us from repeating it. Practice close reading skills with an eighth grade unit that focuses on 19th century America, including European immigration into Ellis Island and Frederick...
K12 Reader
The Jungle Book
Young readers complete a graphic organizer identifying the main idea and the supporting ideas in a passage taken from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.
K12 Reader
Major Art Periods
After examining a brief article about the major art periods, readers use the provided graphic organizer to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in the paragraph.
K12 Reader
The Mississippi River
After examining a short passage about the Mississippi River system, readers use the provided graphic organizer to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in the article.
Curated OER
Episodic Writing Using Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...
Bright Hub Education
Find Future Employment Ideas by Writing a Career Essay
Use the constructive ideas in this resource to assist in developing your own career writing project for your junior high or young high school scholars. The resource provides step-by-step plans for the educator and learners, as well as...
Curated OER
Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...
CC Homestead
Summarize
Designed for third graders but appropriate for older learners as well, this packet of materials underscores the necessity of teaching kids how to summarize, how to identify main ideas and supporting details, and how to ask questions...