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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Main Idea/Supporting Details Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Engage your class in a scavenger hunt to find the main ideas and supporting details in a text. They follow the teacher while s/he models how to determine main idea and find supporting details, and then they work independently. A fun...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Main Idea in Informational Text

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
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...
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 plan is divided into several...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Main Idea with SENTEO Component

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Young scholars explore "main idea." In this main idea and details reading comprehension lesson, students view a Brain POP video about main idea and then identify sentences displayed on the SMART Board that would be included in a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Practice comprehension skills using the story, The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon by Bea Uusma Schyffert. Learners answer questions, fill out graphic organizers, and engage in extension activities involving writing and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Juan Verdades

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Cement comprehension skills using the strategies in this activity. After reading the story, Juan Verdades by Joe Hays, learners use context clues to answer questions, identify main ideas and details, and sequence events.
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Main Ideas about the Bullfrog

For Teachers 3rd Standards
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...
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.  For 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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Determining Ideas and Adding Details

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
A handy TFDC (topic/fact/detail/conclusion) graphic organizer (included) allows young writers to outline and record their main ideas and supporting details in the prewriting phase. They then continue to add details to the topic sentences...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Details from the Text

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Explore non-fiction comprehension strategies with your class. They will visualize daily activities and label a 4 circle Venn diagram with related phrases. They must identify the overlapping sections as "main ideas," then complete a...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Summarizing and Sorting Details from an Informational Text: Identifying the Main Idea

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars participate in two activities that teach them to identify the main idea and key supporting details in informational text. Partners create a visual that reflects the main idea and key supporting details in an informational text...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Time Machine

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Challenge your class with this lesson! Learners read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, discuss context clues, identify main ideas and details, and analyze story elements. Discussion questions and activities are broken down for each chapter...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Main Idea in Informational Text

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
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...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Reading Closely to Expand Understanding of Adaptations

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Third graders work to determine the main idea, recall key details, and answer questions using an informational text on the topic of animal adaptations. Using the non-fiction text "Staying Alive: Animal Adaptations" (provided) the teacher...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's The Idea?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Quite often, learners confuse the main idea in a selection of reading with the supporting details. In this lesson plan, pupils practice the skill of finding the main idea and the supporting details in pieces of writing. Newspaper...
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. 
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...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge: Colonial Craftspeople

For Teachers 4th Standards
In the first lesson plan of this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders gain background knowledge of different jobs performed by early colonists. The class begins with a slide show presentation that includes a variety of great...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment: Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Bullfrog Life Cycle

For Teachers 3rd Standards
The sixth lesson plan in this Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle unit assesses your third graders' ability to read and understand informational text. The included assessment asks learners to take notes about the main idea and supporting...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Was That All About?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Through direct instruction, the teacher demonstrates how to identify the main idea and supporting details of a text when creating a summary. As a class, read a paragraph, highlighting relevant information and crossing out extraneous...
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 lesson which means...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

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

For Teachers 3rd Standards
In the third activity from this unit based on the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, learners focus on using specific details from the text-to-answer questions about the habitat of bullfrogs. While reading the text, young...
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...