Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Finding the Main Idea
After reading chapter 17 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, give this graphic organizer to your kids to find the main idea. The circles are small and will probably spark complaints, but the main idea should never be lengthy; it should be...
Curated OER
Find the Main Idea: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
An excerpt from Willa Cather's O Pioneer's! provides learners with practice in finding the main idea and supporting details in a narrative. As readers record the bleak details on the included graphic organizer, they can conclude that...
Curated OER
Find the Main Idea in Romeo and Juliet
Finding the main idea in a text can be rather difficult! Work with your class and develop this skill. This resource contains an excerpt from Act II, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet, and the reader must identify the main idea of Juliet's...
Polk Bros Foundation
Main Idea Analyzer
Show the connection between the main idea and supporting details with a graphic organizer. Pupils fill in the main idea of a text in the circle and the supporting ideas in the boxes connected to the circle.
Curated OER
Finding the Main Idea: Little Women
Whether or not your class is reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, you can use this exercise as the basis of a mini-lesson on how to determine the main idea of a passage or as a pre-test to assess mastery of the skill. A graphic...
Pearson
Main Idea
The main idea of this resource is that you should take a look if you're planning to teach main ideas in your class! Cover just about everything you need to know about main ideas with a packet of materials that includes information and...
Polk Bros Foundation
Illustration Planner
One way to help your pupils more fully understand an idea from the text they are reading is to require them to draw or sketch the concept. This page provides some space to plan the details your students want to include in their...
Polk Bros Foundation
Collect Evidence to Support an Idea
In order to support an idea, writers must use evidence. Your class members can prepare their evidence with this basic worksheet. Writers note down the topic they are learning about and their own idea. Next, they come up with information...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Comprehend a Paragraph, then a Page/Section in a Text
Help your class tackle chunks of text with a simple graphic organizer. Pupils read three paragraphs and, as they read, draw pictures in the provided boxes that demonstrate what each paragraph says. There are three boxes on the page and...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Analyze a Story or History Completely and Carefully
Start off analysis of a text with a instructional activity that asks pupils to complete several tasks. Class members note down a couple of characters or people and their distinguishing traits, describe the most important event, summarize...
Curated OER
Elena by Diane Stanley
This story is bound to motivate your class. Learners read a story called Elena by Diane Stanley. The story is about a young woman who marries for love but is soon widowed during the Mexican Revolution. She takes her children to...
Curated OER
"The Most Dangerous Game" Study Guide Packet
The comprehensive study guide packet for Richard Connell’s "The Most Dangerous Game" challenges young readers to reflect on hunting as a sport and what it means to be civilized. Using various graphic organizers, including a Cornell Notes...
Curated OER
Writing Organizers
Eight graphic organizers to choose from? That's right! Each of these organizers relates to writing or reading. From narrowing a writing topic, to responding to literature, to planning a writing project, you'll find many purposes for...
Curated OER
Literary Response and Analysis Theme Literature
Analyze the central idea or literary theme found in a series of quotes from the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. For literary analysis, learners paraphrase excerpts from the play and then identify the characters' motivations for their speech.
Westford Academy
Universal Themes in Literature
Although dated in appearance, this PowerPoint presents current content in how learners can identity a theme, main idea, subject, and topic. The information is formatted for easy note taking, but offers no explanation of the themes...
Curated OER
Animal Farm Chapter One Summary
For this Animal Farm chapter one worksheet, students state the main idea of the chapter. The worksheet asks that the student summary includes title, author, topic, main idea, and quotations. In addition, students paraphrase the chapter...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 10
To prepare for the end-of-unit multi-paragraph essay, class members review Rainer Maria Rilke's collection, Letters to a Young Poet, and David Mitchell's Black Swan Green and identify central ideas in both texts. Writers then formulate a...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 9
Class members continue their discussion of David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, focusing on how the author uses the conversation between Jason and Madame Crommelynck to refine his central idea of the meaning of beauty.
Curated OER
Persuasive Letters and The Tell Tale Heart
Students write persuasive letters based on "The Tell Tale Heart." They brainstorm topic sentences, main ideas, and details. They analyze the character and determine if he is innocent or guilty. They create a map listing their reasons to...
Curated OER
"Once More to the Lake" by E.B. White
Revisit your own childhood memories of long summers and lakeside fun with E.B. White's essay, "Once More to the Lake." Included here is the actual text as well as a series of short-answer questions that follow. Not only do readers study...
C.S. Lewis Foundation
Study Guide to Mere Christianity
Delve into the arguments central to Christianity as C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity creates a rational case for his religion. Although slightly preachy in its format, this resource fully outlines, in two different sets, the essential...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Identifying the theme or central idea of a text is a skill many young readers struggle with. It is also the second standard for reading literature in the Common Core. This resource, one from a series of Common Core lessons, can provide...
CPALMS
Analyzing Vonnegut's View of the Future and His Commentary on the Present in Harrison Bergeron
Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" engages adolescents with its theme about the dangers of complete societal equality. Learners complete a graphic organizer to track literary elements in the story, as well as an inference...
Curated OER
Man's Search For Meaning: Concept Analysis
Designed as a resource for teachers who use Man's Search for Meaning, this seven-page packet includes a list of related informational texts, research issues and project ideas, central questions, background information on World War II and...