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Main Idea and Details

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Subject: ESL/ELL (English Language Learning)

Lesson Length: 30 - 45 mins

Topic: Main Idea and Supporting Details

Grade Level: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Standards / Framework:

Brief Description: Students will determine the main idea and at least two supporting details of a passage.

Know Before You Start:

  • Students should be familiar with determining main ideas and details. 

  • Sample passages will be needed for students to determine the main idea of.

Hook:

  • Read and discuss the sample comic.

  • Review that the main idea is what the author wants you to remember the most. 

  • Display a short passage and work together to determine the main idea and supporting details.

Activity:

  • Have students read a text in order to find the main idea and supporting details. 

  • Using the sample comic as a guide, have them explain the main idea and supporting details in a comic. 

  • Display sentence frames for students to refer to while working or print them for individual students based on their language levels.

Closure: Have students share their comics with the class or in a small group.

Differentiation:

  • Provide a variety of passages on student independent reading level.

  • Adapt sentence frames to match language levels. 

  • Allow students to use speech-to-text as needed.

Resources:

Suggested Content Packs:

Suggested Story Starters:

Related Ideas

Super Summaries!

Students will create a comic summarizing a text they have read in class.

Making Inferences

Students will practice expressing their ideas and inferences about a text.