In this story pyramid worksheet, students read a story and then fill in the blanks which will give the main idea of the story. Students identify the main characters, describe the characters, setting, problem, and main events. Eight...

Seventh graders examine the five-paragraph essay format, including the main idea and supporting sentences. After outlining their essay ideas, they write their rough drafts and proofread them in preparation for writing their final papers.

Students explore themes of prejudice and acceptance. In this character education lesson plan, students listen and respond to several fiction books, poems, and lyrics with a similar theme. Students locate articles with the main idea of...

Tenth graders complete a course in basic skills in order to meet the standards for sophomore year. Using one of their classmates papers, they identify the main idea, topic sentence and theme. They also identify the transitional words...

Students are introduced to the correct techniques to use for proper writing. In groups, they practice the use of clustering to help them organize their thoughts and identify the main idea of their paper. To end the lesson, they write...

Students work to develop comprehension strategies. They focus on three rules for summarizing: getting rid of extra information, organizing, and finding the main idea. Through modeling and then guided practice, they apply these rules ...

Second graders explore using nonfiction text to gain information. Working in pairs, 2nd graders read an article about the spotted owl. Each group identifies the main idea and supporting details of their text and use this information to...

Young scholars discover early number concepts for numbers 1 through 5. In this number concepts instructional activity, students work in stations doing hands-on activities such as sorting colored blocks, stringing beads, and counting...

In this reading comprehension worksheet, young scholars read selections and answer questions about main idea and details. The selections include stories, protest signs, diagrams, and charts.

Young scholars explore note taking. In this study skills and nonfiction comprehension lesson, students complete a two column main idea chart while reading a nonfiction passage.

In this synthesis worksheet, students read two or three articles on the same subject and summarize the main idea of each.  Students then find at least three common points in the articles and write a paragraph synthesizing what they...

Learners participate in a differentiated instructional activity about Tuck Everlasting. In this Tuck Everlasting instructional activity, students work on comprehension strategies that are leveled for their reading ability. They focus on...

In this literacy worksheet, students are given a graphic organizer to complete or are presented it as part of the lesson developed from using this sheet.

Carve out some time for your youngsters to write in their journal. Today, they write a story about pets. They learn the value of a journal and how to keep up with it, and they enhance story development by planning their story before...

Have your middle schoolers define the terms outline, summary, paraphrase, plagiarism, citation, reference, and bibliography. They identify the main ideas, topic sentence, supporting ideas in technical writing and create note cards using...

Although the ideas on how to implement the skill RI.9-10.2 are lacking, the assessment would work well for challenging learners to summarize, and identify the main ideas of presidential speeches that are of similar topics. One could use...

Explore writing techniques by analyzing newspapers and magazines with middle schoolers. They will collaborate in small groups to read local news stories and identify the main ideas and author's intent. They also utilize an information...

There are so many great reading strategies. In this lesson, learners practice decoding. They break down two paragraphs to analyze and determine main ideas and details. They each observes ways to model as they map their paragraphs.

Develop their literary skills. In this literature lesson, students collaborate to read portions of books and examine settings, plots, main ideas, and conclusions.

Here is a way to build your pupils' public speaking abilities. The lesson describes a reader's report chair, which is used each week by a student who has just finished reading a book. The featured reader sits in the chair and talks about...

High school writers identify the purpose of both a topic sentence and a transitional statement. They write a topic sentence which denotes the paragraph topic and the author's stand on that topic. Then they write an effective transitional...

Here is an effective way to have your charges practice and model important listening skills. After a short review of effective active listening concepts, such as using body language, summarizing what the other person said, and asking...

Students, through teacher modeling and guided practice, explore four steps/rules of summarizing. In groups, they read a short passage and then, by applying the summarization rules and skills, write an effective summary of it.

Learners observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. As a class, they silently read an article about panda bears from "Ranger Rick" magazine and answer comprehension questions. They answer the five "W" questions, and write...