Shrink up a section by asking pupils to write down the main idea for each of seven paragraphs. There is a space provided for each main idea. When students have completed this portion, they write down what they think to be the central...

Does your class or do individual learners need more practice determining the main idea of a passage of informational text? Here is a worksheet containing seven exercises that asks kids to read short paragraphs, summarize the passage in...

Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...

Androids, cyborgs, and robonauts? Kids are sure to be engaged by the thematically related passages on a reading comprehension worksheet that asks them to summarize the passage in one sentence, and then develop an appropriate title that...

To develop their reading comprehension skills, learners read short paragraphs, summarize the passage in one sentence, and then develop an appropriate title that indicates the main idea of the selection.

Readers identify main ideas and supporting details using informational texts. In this literacy lesson, they make predictions and read the text to find the main ideas. They use a table diagram to define the main idea and supporting...

To develop their reading comprehension skills, learners read short paragraphs, summarize the passage in one sentence, and then develop an appropriate title that indicates the main idea of the selection.

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...

Here's resource that presents step-by-step directions for three different activities that ask kids to read a short passage, listen for the main points, and then to summarize the passage in their own words.

Eighth graders identify the main idea and supporting details in paragraphs. In this language arts lesson plan, 8th graders review organizational patterns in paragraphs and determine which pattern is best for a given situation. ...

Learn how to summarize by identifying main ideas and supporting details. Readers cross out unimportant information as they read through a text. Is it a random detail? Cross it out! They then draw a concept map, placing the main idea in...

What do astronauts eat in outer space? Kids can read an informational passage to learn about space food. The passage includes prompts that have learners identify the main idea and key details, then write a paragraph summarizing the text....

Does your class know the history behind today's telephone? They will after reading a very interesting one-page informational passage. They'll learn all about the way phones have progressed to the amazing devices they've become as they...

Eighth graders explore the main idea of stories. In this literacy lesson, 8th graders summarize the last TV show they watched, identify the main idea of the show, and list its supporting details. After a discussion of main ideas, they...

Lesson 6 of this extensive unit finally has your class begin to work their way through specific articles from the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Before examining the rights actually detailed in the...

Practice the strategy of summarizing to gain meaning and knowledge from an informational text. Young readers highlight supporting details and main ideas, and then they use this to summarize two articles: "The Great Quake" and "What...

Provide scholars with an opportunity to practice summarizing text with a two-page learning exercise. Learners read poems, share stories with their peers, and summarize their new-found-knowledge. 

Fourth graders comprehend what they are reading. An effective strategy for comprehension is summarization. They single out and explaining the main ideas of a passage. Students find a sentence or rewrite their own that covers...

Scholars delve into an informational text with the help of four pages that focus on the author's purpose, vocabulary words, summarization, and main idea.

Young scholars determine how to form a simple topic sentence in order to summarize a reading passage to increase comprehension. They apply the strategy to reading a passage from a textbook by writing a topic sentence for paragraphs about...

Examine the process of summarizing a piece of text using the book So You Want to Be a President? Kids review the definitions for main idea, topic sentences, superordinate terms, and supporting details. Next, they work in small...

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...

Students identify main idea and supporting details from a short reading selection using a two-column note taking process. In this literacy lesson, students work in groups of three to four, then compare their papers with the other groups'...

Discuss the reading comprehension strategy of summarization with your elementary schoolers! They read a chapter from their social studies textbook, Regions Near and Far, and create a map, or word web, for the chapter. They identify...