by Rachna Rikhye, Heidi Alpert |
Identifying the Main Idea
The lesson focuses on teaching high beginning elementary ESOL students how to use a variety of strategies to identify the main idea and details in informational text.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Audience: Elementary
Audience Language Proficiency: Beginner
Duration: One week of 60-minute sessions per day
Materials And Technology:
Worksheet 1 – Our Winter Clothes
Worksheet 2 – Fruit
Worksheet 3 – Zoo Animals
Worksheet 4 – Scrambled Paragraph
Objective:
The lesson will focus on teaching students how to use a variety of strategies to identify the main idea and details in informational text.
Language Skill: Grammar, Listening, Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary, Writing
Content Area: Maryland State Department of Education English Language Proficiency Standards
Procedure:
Step 1: Concept Building
Introduction: Teacher provides a box of related items and pulls each item out one at a time. The children name each item as it is displayed. After all the items are displayed, the students brainstorm a category label for the set, such as: Winter Clothes, Games and Toys, or Shoes. The teacher labels the box with its title. Teacher points out that the title is the ‘main idea’ and the items are the ‘details’.
Guided Practice: Students are divided into two groups. Each group is given a box of related items to examine. They are given two minutes to explore the box and come up with the ‘main idea’ and ‘details’ of the box. A speaker from each group presents the ‘main idea’ to the class. Other members of the group present one detail each. Note: Each student must justify his or her answer.
Independent Practice: The teacher labels two empty bins with t
he ‘main ideas’ such as Things to Write On, Things to Write With, and Things to Read. The students are given 2 minutes to fill the bins with ‘details’ from materials easily accessible in the classroom. The teacher reviews quantity vocabulary with the students as the class discusses the contents of both boxes. Such as: We have many pencils. We have some
crayons.
Stage 2: Skill Development
Teacher Model: Main Idea in Text: The teacher displays a model paragraph, using quantity words, about one of the bins. After students and teacher use choral reading to read the paragraph, the teacher asks students to come up to the front of the class and highlight the main idea and details with different colors. The teacher encourages
students to discover that the main idea is stated three times, once in the title, once in the introductory sentence, and once in the concluding sentence. An example of the model paragraph is on Worsheet 1.
Guided Practice: The teacher displays a paragraph about one of the other bins, which has a title, but has blanks for key vocabulary. Students are given index cards with the quantity words and main idea and detail words on them. As the class reads out the paragraph together, students come up and place their words onto the blanks. Note: It might be a good idea to have pictorial representations of the words on the flip side of
the index cards to differentiate for non-readers. Once the blanks are all filled, students take turns to read one sentence each. (An example of the cloze paragraph is on Worksheet 2.)
Think, Pair, Share: The students are divided into pairs and given an envelope with a set of pictures or details in it, along with a fill-in-the-
blank worksheet of a paragraph with no title. The students work together to fill out the title, topic and concluding sentences, and details. The vocabulary words for the details can be provided on the flip side of the pictures as well as in a word bank on the worksheet. However, the
pairs should come up with their own title with spelling help from the teacher if required. Each pair then takes turns to present its paragraph to the class and orally justifies its choice of main idea. (See Worksheet 3 for an example.)
Stage 3: Skill Mastery
Listening: The teacher reads a series of beginning level informational texts. Students will learn that the main idea can be stated in the beginning or at the end of the book. After each book is read to them, the students will identify the main idea and details. (See Materials section for a list of suggested books.)
Reading: Students will be given a short untitled paragraph to read independently or along with a tape, with the main idea stated either at the beginning or end, and will use a highlighter to identify the main idea.
Writing: Students will be given a scrambled paragraph and will copy the sentences onto a graphic organizer identifying the main idea and details. (See Worksheet 4 for an example)
Speaking: Students will work in groups of five to orally prepare a paragraph on a given topic. They will then present the paragraph to the class.
Assessment:
Formative Assessment:
The teacher will monitor student progress and understanding throughout
the lesson and especially during the skill-mastery stage.
Cumulative Assessment:
The students will be given a set of cut up sentences on topics that have
been covered during the lesson, which they will have to first put in order and then glue onto a graphic organizer. They will write their own title for the paragraph using vocabulary from the paragraph.
Differentiation:
The students are given paragraphs with extraneous information. They must identify the details that do not belong to the main idea and justify their answers.