AdLit
Ad lit.org: What's the Big Idea? Integrating Young Adult Literature
Drawing on New York City teachers' experiences, this article examines three ways to effectively integrate young adult literature into the curriculum: use core texts (usually novels, but also other genres as well) that the entire class...
Education Development Center
Tv411: Strategies for Better Reading: Activities 3 of 3
Use these eight multiple choice passages to practice summarizing the main idea of a paragraph.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Text Features: Non Fiction [Pdf]
Compare the printed page to an electronic web page and use this activity to discuss the similarities and differences. A cross-curricular tie-in with ecosystems. Could easily be adapted to another subject area.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Whittle, Whittle It Down: Summarizing
This multi-day jigsaw activity engages students in summary writing. Students will work in small groups after direct instruction and write short summary paragraphs. Students will refer to the 'Five Rules For Writing a Summary' chart for...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Scaffolding Comprehension Strategies Using Graphic Organizers
A three-part standards-based lesson in which students will use collaborative strategic reading to apply four reading strategies: preview, click and clunk, get the gist, and wrap-up. They will work in cooperative groups while scaffolding...
Grammarly
Grammarly Handbook: Main Ideas and Supporting Ideas
An explanation and examples of main ideas and supporting details.
E Reading Worksheets
E Reading Worksheets: Main Idea Worksheets
In this learning module, students will learn how to identify the main ideas in individual pararaphs. Worksheets, PowerPoint lessons, and activities are provided to reinforce the concept of main idea. This module is designed to support...
Sam Houston State University
Texas Center for Academic Excellence: Summarizing Pre Test
Check students' prior knowledge and understanding of how to summarize passages and identify main ideas.
Quizlet
Quizlet: Ccisd 4th Grade Main Idea Match
Reading comprehension terms (nonfiction) are included in this review "Match" game. Questions are provided for the following words: main idea, summarizing, point of view, summarizing, topic, support, conclusion, details, author's purpose,...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Analyze Nonfiction: Central Idea [Pdf]
This graphic organizer will help students analyze nonfiction pieces. Students will use the graphic organizer to guide them as they identify the central idea and supporting details.
Curated OER
Mc Graw Hill: Informational Text: Determine Central Ideas and Supporting Details
Read a short informational text and determine the main idea and supporting details. Click to check your answers then click on Practice.
E Reading Worksheets
E Reading Worksheets: Text Structure Activities
Numerous links related to analyzing text structures are provided on this site. Lesson plans, PowerPoint slides, graphic organizers, rubrics, and quizzes related to text structures are also provided to support students while analyzing...
Other
Ncrel: Reading Strategies: Before, During, and After [Pdf]
This page provides a detailed chart to aid students' understanding of texts. It goes through the steps of pre-reading, during reading, and after reading, outlining what students should be thinking about as they interact with a text. This...
Other
Sas: Exploring Ways Authors Use Text Structures to Convey Meaning
In this lesson, students will explore ways authors use text structures to convey meaning through cause and effect, sequencing, comparison, and more.
International Literacy Association
Ila: Unlocking the Power of Informational Text With Five Creative Ideas
Five easy ways to help unlock the power of informational text for all students.
Learning Farm
Learning Farm: Common Core Standards: Text Structure in Literature
Practice comparing and contrasting the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style. Choose test mode or game mode!
E Reading Worksheets
E Reading Worksheets: Text Structure
This resource focuses on text structure by defining the types of organizational patterns and providing examples of each. These are followed by a list of links to practice activities on text structure and main idea, as well as some videos.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Creating Magazine Covers to Summarize Texts
In this lesson, students will examine the ways in which a magazine cover's headlines and graphics express the main ideas of its articles. They will then use an interactive tool to create covers that summarize chapters of informational...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Make Inferences in Informational/expository Text
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will be taking a look at how authors of informational texts, such as expository texts, organize their writing and the effects that organization can have...
Love To Know Media
Your Dictionary: Lesson Plans on Summary Writing Skills
This article focuses on how to help teachers write lesson plans that will aid students in learning to write clear, concise summaries of movies and literary works.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Writing Expository Text Summaries
This resource presents instructional practices for writing summaries of expository text in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies classes.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts: Grade 7: Written in Bone
This unit focuses on learning the stories of our past. Students will explore various texts (literary and informational) and their unique perspectives on history to consider how different experiences offer a different historical...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: Ela Guidebooks: Summarizing
This strategy helps students refine their understanding of texts to meet reading expectations and prepare for writing about texts.
AdLit
Ad lit.org: Classroom Strategies: Semantic Feature Analysis
The Semantic Feature Analysis strategy engages students in reading assignments by asking them to relate selected vocabulary to key features of the text. This technique uses a matrix to help students discover how one set of things is...