Connect to real-world experiences by having your primary learners create an award certificate based upon literal and inferential information from a story. They present the award to a character from a story and explain the criteria used....

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,...

Want to boost your readers' comprehension skills and strategies? Look to these five pages, each with a short story and questions to answer covering main idea, facts, sequence of events, context clues, conclusions, and making...

Students are introduced to the purpose of dichotomous keys and create one together as a class. In groups, they use a digital atlas to examine the different types of amphibians in Idaho. Using this information, they make their own...

In this "key idea" worksheet, students complete a "KIM" graphic organizer: key idea, information, memory clue. Students are given a sample organizer, then complete a blank one on as assigned topic.

Continue with creating documentaries with the fourth lesson in a series. After explaining the concept of preproduction, send groups off to make some decisions about their films. Groups can use the handout and the four provided questions...

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.

Scholars take part in a close reading of pages four through seven and 12-15 of the book, Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Bullfrog Circle by Deborah Dennard. Readers identify the story's main idea, list its key details, and examine...

Learn to forecast the weather using cloud types. Budding meteorologists identify cloud types and learn to use a dichotomous key. As scholars develop observation and identification skills, they discover how different cloud types cause...

Scholars view a video clip about adolescent brain development and work with partners to identify the main idea and supporting details. Next, as part of the mid-unit assessment, pupils watch another clip from the video and complete a main...

The country of Egypt is more than just big pyramids and ancient pharaohs. After reading a brief overview of this African nation, young learners will demonstrate their understanding of the text by identifying the main idea and supporting...

Only a thorough understanding of history can save us from repeating it. Practice close reading skills with an eighth grade unit that focuses on 19th century America, including European immigration into Ellis Island and Frederick...

Upper graders read the book Holes as a class or by themselves. In groups, they identify symbols and discuss how they are connected  among the many plots in the story. They create a timeline in which they sequence the main...

Apply reading standards to your science curriculum by asking pupils to complete this guide. Individuals note down important vocabulary as well as two ideas they learned and two supporting facts for each idea. They then take this...

Find key details in books using this note card strategy. Each reader gets six cards with the classic who, what, where, when, why, and how detail prompts. After they read the book, they choose a card and locate a key detail...

Pupils read speeches and identify the main idea as well as the literary techniques employed, paying careful attention to the persuasion and repetition elements that each speech possesses. Using a graphic organizer, they analyze,...

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...

No matter what you read, you can always practice locating the main idea and key details to increase reading comprehension. Third graders read about an Aboriginal myth, they then complete three short-answer questions using key details...

Readers are asked to identify the main idea and two supporting ideas in a brief passage about the Louisiana Purchase.

Finding the central idea is the focus of this lesson. 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...

Children can learn to analyze expository or informational texts at nearly any age. This scaffolded and scripted resource provides teachers with the support needed to facilitate a thoughtful lesson on summarizing informational text...

The Iditarod Trail and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are the focus of a comprehension assessment. Readers must identify the main idea of the passage, draw inferences, define words using context clues, and identify the organizational...

Should Charlie undergo an operation to increase his intelligence? A mini-lesson for a unit on Daniel Keyes novel Flowers for Algernon uses a RAFT activity, which prompts students to write a letter to Charlie's doctors explaining why they...

Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...