To understand a text, you must understand the central idea of the story. Learn how to recognize the central idea and supporting details with this article. Click the links at bottom right.

[Free Registration/Login Required] A two-lesson unit on main idea and details through which students use the topic sentence to identify the main idea of a paragraph and categorize details as main idea or supporting. With free login,...

[Free Registration/Login Required] A series of three lesson plans designed to teach students to identify main ideas through headings and chapter titles, and then to write appropriate titles of their own. Lessons are based on the books...

Written exercises related to identifying the main ideas and details are provided on this module. Students will enjoy learning about Valentine's Day in these text structure exercises.

In this lesson, 5th graders learn how to identify a generalization in a text so that they can then spot lies or inaccuracies. Includes downloadable workbook with a generalization activity on page 53.

A Seed Discussion is a two-part strategy used to teach students how to engage in discussions about assigned readings. In the first part, students read selected text and identify "seeds" or key concepts of a passage which may need...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Based on Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems, a instructional activity in which students learn how to utilize text and picture clues to determine a when and where the story takes place.