EDIM 508 Project 2
Spotlight On Strategy: Main Idea, Key Details & Summarizing
Background
The spotlight on strategy I decided to work on with my fifth grade class is main idea, by identifying key supporting details and eventually summarizing a short passage. The main idea of a passage, story, or article is what the written passage is mostly about. Moreover, the main idea is what the author intends for his or her reader to understand. Supporting details, within the writing, are sentences that help to explain or support the main idea. Identifying the main idea and supporting details of a passage is necessary for students to create a thorough summary. Students will be able to read a passage to identify the main idea and supporting details to summarize the passage in their own words. The children will use both traditional and digital tools to both read, analyze and record information.
Brain POP Main Idea Video Activator
BrainPOP Main Idea. (2015, February 13) Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THX0XRB54Yk
BrainPOP Main Idea
Reading Skills Main Idea & Supporting Details
Introduction to Reading Skills: Identify main idea and supporting details. (2014, June 12). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42SJTk2XSi4
Introduction to Reading Skills: Identify main idea and supporting details
Example & Procedures
Materials: Hard / digital copies of the text, highlighters, pencils, laptops/devices
- Preview / review the concept of main idea and supporting details as an integral part of writing a summary
- Provide each child with a hard copy of the Reading A to Z book “Abraham Lincoln: From Log Cabin to the White House. By Bea Silverburg.
- Display the book on the interactive whiteboard and introduce the book and discuss student’s prior knowledge about Abraham Lincoln
- Ask the class to open up their books (or access a digital copy) and remind the children to read quietly as the teacher reads the two page Introduction.
- Instruct students to highlight important information on their hard copy of the book
- Students should then re-read the passage with a partner and verify their highlighted key details with them.
- Students should then record their key details on using Google Docs, Google Drawings or similar program to create their own digital graphic organizer. Students have the option to add images they create to help them recall the content.
- Next the class will reconvene and share key details as whole class.
- Once students complete their graphic organizer they will be instructed to complete their summary for homework. Their summary should also be completed electronically. Both the graphic organizer and summary should be shared with the teacher.
- Summaries of the introduction of the book will be displayed for the class on the interactive whiteboard and discussed during the following lesson.
- The class will continue working on completing the book with a balance of independent, small and whole group work.
Copyright Reading A to Z, Illustrated by: Maria Varis, Retrieved From: https://www.readinga-z.com/projectable/book.php?id=774&lang=1&type=book
Student Graphic Organizer Example Using Google Drawings
Citations
BrainPOP. (2015, February 13). BrainPOP Main Idea Video. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THX0XRB54Yk
McGraw-Hill Education. (2014, June 12). Introduction to Reading Skills: Identify Main Idea and Supporting Details. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42SJTk2XSi4
Silverburg, B. (2016) Abraham Lincoln: From Log Cabin to the White House. Retrieved from https://www.readinga-z.com/books/leveled-books/book/?id=774