---
title: Exploring the Main Idea and Details in a Story
description: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the main idea and details of a story by creating a comic.
image: https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/details_details_-001.png
---

**Subject: ELA (English Language Arts)**

**Lesson Length: 45 mins - 1 hour**

**Topic: Main Idea and Details**

**Grade Level: 4**

**Standards / Framework: **

- [CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3](https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ELA_Standards1.pdf)

**Brief Description:** Students will create a comic demonstrating their understanding of the main idea and details of a story.

**Know Before You Start:** This lesson can be used as a formative assessment.

**Hook:**

- Have students explain what Cinderella is about (the main idea), e.g., Cinderella wants to go to the ball but her stepmother won’t let her.
- Show the Cinderella comic. Discuss the details students notice in each panel. 
    - What details help the reader understand the story?
    - Are there any important details that are missing from the comic?
- Discuss how details support the main idea of a story.

**Activity:**

- Assign a story for the class to read. As students read, have them focus on the specific details shared throughout the text.
- Have students create a three-panel comic showing the beginning, middle, and end of the story that includes specific details to support the main idea of the text.

**Closure:**

- Have students share their comics with another student and discuss the main idea and details.

**Differentiation:**

- Provide sentence starters as needed.
- Allow students to work with peer model.
- Allow students to sketch out their ideas before creating their comic.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.

**Resources:**

- Comic to print or display: [Comic](https://share.pixton.com/q6n2oyf).
- Storyboard Graphic Organizer.

**Suggested Content:**

- [![](https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/thumbnail.png) Cinderella Around The World ](https://content.pixton.com/cinderella-around-the-world)
- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/2084245818663469056/thumbnail.png) The Birchbark House ](https://content.pixton.com/the-birchbark-house)
- [![](https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/thumbnail-mchiggins.png) M.C. Higgins The Great ](https://content.pixton.com/m.c.-higgins-the-great)
- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/1629220815570640896/thumbnail.png) Tuck Everlasting ](https://content.pixton.com/tuck-everlasting)
- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/1665077054967881728/thumbnail.png) Holes ](https://content.pixton.com/holes)
- [![](https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/thumbnail-stonefox.png) Stone Fox ](https://content.pixton.com/stone-fox)

**Suggested Story Starters:**

- [ Five-Finger-Retell-Strategy Template ](https://story-starters.pixton.com/five-finger-retell-strategy-template)
- [ Retell Holes With Visual Prompts ](https://story-starters.pixton.com/retell-holes-with-visual-prompts)

Assign Activity

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