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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Finding Main Ideas

For Teachers 5th - 6th
In this reading worksheet, young scholars learn to identify the main idea in a newspaper article. Students read an article about police dogs and answer 2 questions. Then young scholars choose 3 newspaper articles on their own and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Summarizing with James and the Giant Peach

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Elementary readers in literature groups practice summarizing chapter-by-chapter with Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Focus on main idea, supporting details, and the 5 Ws. Unfortunately, a clever "peach" graphic organizer to which...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Fast Fact-Finding

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Ever wonder why the sky changes color so often? Readers examine an informational excerpt from John Farndon's How the Earth Works. They underline key points as they read and then answer five response questions. Prompts review main points,...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Teaching Strategies For Main Idea Lessons

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Main Idea Lesson Plans can help teachers make identifying the main idea of a passage a breeze.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Continued Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Text-Dependent Questions and Vivid Words and Phrases

For Teachers 3rd Standards
As 3rd graders continue reading Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, they focus on the concepts of predator and prey in the fifth lesson plan of this unit. Scholars further develop their ability to answer questions using evidence from the text...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building Blocks Of Comprehension: What Is The Big Idea?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers engage in a lesson that is about finding the main idea of a passage of reading. They use a passage while focusing upon the words and defining vocabulary. The students work on fluency and then identify the main idea.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's In a Phrase? Finding Historical Understandings in an Immigrant Guidebook

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Using a Chinese-English phrase book from the late 19th century, learners view a glimpse of life on the frontier for a Chinese immigrant. They work in groups and on their own to analyze and summarize the content of various phrases, given...
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Lesson Plan
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PBS

Finding Story Ideas

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Pitch your best news story to your news team, or the peers in your journalism class, with a activity about finding, reporting, and presenting a story. After watching clips of different examples, as well as strategies for finding the best...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Finding the Main Idea and Supporting Details

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders examine how to identify the main idea and supporting details in a reading passage. They read an article, answer who, what, when, where, and how, discuss the answers, and identify the main idea and supporting details.
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Worksheet
DePaul University

Breaking the Food Chain

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Throughout history, the growth of big cities has resulted in the destruction of ecosystems. In the case of Chicago, IL, a grassland that was once home to bison, deer, wolves, and foxes quickly became a booming city of over three million...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Space Food

For Students 4th
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....
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Planets

For Students 2nd - 5th Standards
Readers are asked to identify the main ideas and supporting ideas in a passage about the eight planets in our solar system. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's in a Main Idea?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders read newspaper articles. In this language arts lesson, 2nd graders identify the main ideas found in the articles by highlighting them. The entire class selects one interesting article from the sports section to discuss.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Find the Main Ideas!

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders examine how finding the main ideas and summarizing increases their reading comprehension. They read "The Sea in Danger" while applying the six rules of summarization in a modeled lesson. Next, working in small groups, they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Mitten

For Teachers K - 1st
Explore the Ukraine through a reading of The Mitten. Readers will determine the sequence of events, cause and effect, make predictions, and find the main idea of the story. They also use math skills to make charts and graphs. Finally,...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

The Louisiana Purchase

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Readers are asked to identify the main idea and two supporting ideas in a brief passage about the Louisiana Purchase.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

8th Grade Reading Comprehension Success

For Students 8th Standards
Augment your eighth grade language arts curriculum with a thorough set of reading comprehension activities and assessments. Focusing on a variety of skills, including vocabulary in context, text structure, main idea, and author's style,...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Fact or Fantasy?

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Are we alone in the universe? This brief informational text on extraterrestrial theory has been split into seven sections to help scholars practice note taking. They read the statements, underlining key words. Then, using the graphic...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Project Organizer: Follow an Explorer

For Students 5th - 7th
This is both a great idea and a great way to help your class organize a themed project. They use these worksheets to assist them in writing a creative historical narrative about the life and travels of an explorer. They'll compare and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Newspaper Article

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Have your class participate in an interview activity using an informational text about the Amazon. After reading a Cultural Connections story about a person from the Amazon, middle schoolers write interview questions based on the text....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Outstanding Women

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Research the lives of famous women in this social studies lesson plan. Middle schoolers use various sources to research a famous woman and create a presentation about the accomplishments of the woman. They can find the central idea...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write a Description

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Finding the central idea is the focus of this activity. Middle schoolers write descriptions of different animals using details and descriptive language. They watch a video of kids using descriptive language, and then use showing language...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prisoner in One's Own Home

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Examine the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. After reading an article from the New York Times and exploring the author's word choice, young readers find the central idea in the text and work on researching additional...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's the Big Idea?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners choose a paragraph from a book of their choice, identify the main idea, and draw an illustration of the main idea. They write original paragraphs, illustrate them, and trade with a partner, identifying the main idea of the...

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