Curated OER
Researching the Past
Learners research the western movement in order to learn note taking strategies with nonfiction texts. They use the Internet to search for important information about the western movement using the Cornell Notes note-taking system. They...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension 5: level 11
Use this reading comprehension exercise at the beginning of the year to assess the reading comprehension level of your class, to remind readers of how to use strategies to decode dense text, or to assess the skills of a new student....
Curated OER
Lesson 3: Branches of Government
Young historians climb through the three branches of the US government in the third lesson plan of this five-part series. While reading the first three Articles of the Constitution in small groups, children write facts on paper...
Curated OER
Environmental Benefits of Recycling
Fourth graders understand the benefits of recycling. In this recycling literacy instructional activity, 4th graders read an article and identify the main idea. Students understand the process of transfer to the landfill and discuss how...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Curated OER
The Time Machine
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...
Curated OER
Identify Purposes of Text
Set a purpose for reading informational texts with this reading lesson. To find the central idea of a text, young readers turn titles and subtitles into questions to help them understand the text. They complete a T-chart for the lesson,...
EngageNY
Analyzing the Central Ideas, Part 1: “The Border”
What is your strategy? Scholars read "The Border" and work with a partner to practice reading strategies to use while independent reading. They identify difficult parts where they practiced rereading by marking them with sticky notes,...
EngageNY
Introduction: The Ideas of Charles Darwin
Piece by piece ... Scholars read the text World without Fish by breaking the text into pieces. They identify challenging words and determine the gist of each section as they read. They then work together in triads to answer...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing Planning Sheet
"Tell me a story!" Young storytellers use this planning sheet to block out their narrative, identifying the main idea, characters, setting, events, and ending they will incorporate into their tale.
Curated OER
When the Fly Flew In by Lisa Westberg Peters
The students will listen to the story When the Fly Flew In, and be able to identify the main idea of the story and many of the (supporting) details. Students will also develop an appreciation for the humor and illustrations. After...
Curated OER
What's in a Main Idea?
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.
Curated OER
Identifying Main Idea
Students locate the main idea in a nonfiction text. In this language arts lesson, students participate in a think aloud to locate the main idea of the story. Additionally, students respond to a text and locate the main idea and complete...
Curated OER
Big Pumpkin
Learners read a story and retell it through role playing. They will read Big Pumpkin, identify the main ideas and important characters, retell the story through dramatic play, and identify their favorite character.
Curated OER
Main Idea and Supporting Details on Two Topics-Neeraj and Moths
Students explore details, supporting details, and main idea statements. For this details and ideas lesson, students view two video segments and determine relevant details. Students identify the main ideas and defend them.
EngageNY
Introducing World without Fish
One fish, two fish, red fish, no fish. Scholars analyze World without Fish to determine the gist, identify vocabulary, and answer text-dependent questions. As learners read, they use sticky notes to annotate the text. They also work...
Curated OER
What's The Idea
Pupils discuss the importance of identifying the main idea in reading selections. After reading newspaper articles related to nutrition, students identify the main idea of the selection and three supporting details. A reading log...
Curated OER
Outline It!
Fourth graders investigate how outlining can aid in comprehending text. In this reading comprehension lesson, 4th graders outline an article they read in groups of two. Students take turns reading the article, identifying the main idea,...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Text-Dependent Questions and Vivid Words and Phrases
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...
EngageNY
Analyzing the Purpose of a Newspaper Article
Shh! No talking during the discussion! Using the resource, scholars engage in a silent discussion called a Chalk Talk activity to analyze the purpose of a newspaper article. Additionally, they read a model newspaper article and try to...
East Stroudsburg University
In Your Own Words... Paraphrasing
How can you put a passage in your own words without changing the meaning of the original text? That is the question facing many young researchers. The advice modeled in this presentation is that writers read the passage carefully,...
Mr. Nussbaum
Abraham Lincoln Reading Comprehension—The Middle Years (Part 2)
Abraham Lincoln's face may only be worth one cent, but the online reading passage and questions about his life are an invaluable resource. Pupils read a passage about Lincoln's experience with the Illinois Legislature, earning his law...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension 5: Level 9
The piranha is the subject of a reading passage that is sure to engage your learners in a reading comprehension exercise. Pupils must employ multiple strategies to answer the questions based on the passage. Of particular value is the...
Crabtree Publishing
The Genius of the Ancients
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Fifth graders prove this with help from three lessons that examine how ancient cultures used their needs to drive innovations. In lesson one, pupils identify main ideas and supporting...