Determining the Main Idea: Pages 16–19 of One Well: The Story of Water on Earth | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G3:M4:U1:L6

Determining the Main Idea: Pages 16–19 of One Well: The Story of Water on Earth

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. 
  • RI.3.2: Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
  • RI.3.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
  • L.3.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  • L.3.1a: Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.
  • L.3.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can explain the function of adjectives. (L.3.1a)
  • I can determine the main ideas and supporting details of pages 16-19 of One Well. (RI.3.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Glossary: Pages 16-19 of One Well (RI.3.4, L.3.4)
  • Research note-catcher (RI.3.1, RI.3.2, W.3.7, W.3.8)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engaging the Reader: One Well, Pages 16-19 (10 minutes)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Determining the Meaning of Unfamiliar Vocabulary: One Well, Pages 16-19 (15 minutes)

B. Language Dive: The Function of Adjectives (15 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Determining the Main Ideas: One Well, Pages 16-19 (15 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Complete the Language Dive Practice: One Well: Adjectives in your Unit 1 homework.

B. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: 

  • Due to the complexity of the vocabulary on these pages, in Work Time A, students use the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart to complete a glossary for pages 16-19 of One Well (RI.3.4, L.3.4).
  • In Work Time B, students participate in a Language Dive that guides them through the meaning of a sentence from One Well. The focus of this Language Dive is describing the function of adjectives (L.3.1a). Students then apply their understanding of the meaning and structure of this sentence when determining the function of adjectives in texts and during the End ofUnit 1 Assessment. Refer to the Tools page for additional information regarding a consistent Language Dive routine.
  • In the Closing, students determine the main idea of pages 16-19. This is a similar process to the one in Lessons 2-5; however, rather than determining the main idea and supporting details from a text read aloud, this time students read the text themselves (RI.3.1, RI.3.2). Pay careful attention to the routine in this lesson in order to apply it in subsequent lessons.
  • Students practice their fluency by following along and reading silently as the teacher reads pages 16-19 of One Well in Opening A.
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners with a characteristic of their choice.
  • For students who need additional challenge, encourage them to determine a main idea for pages 16-17 and a main idea for pages 18-19.

How this lesson builds on previous work: 

  • In the first half of the unit, students determined the main idea and supporting details of a text read aloud. They repeat this process in the second half of the unit, but in these lessons, they read the text themselves.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Students may need additional support determining the main idea and supporting details of a text. Invite those students who may require help to sit together for additional teacher support.

Assessment guidance:

  • Review students' Determining the Main Idea note-catchers to identify common issues to use as whole group teaching points.
  • Collect the Language Dive Practice: One Well: Nouns homework from Lesson 3. Refer to the Language Dive Practice: One Well: Nouns (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.

Down the road:

  • In the next lesson, students determine the main idea and supporting details of pages 20-21 of One Well.

In Advance

  • Strategically group students into triads for work in this lesson, with at least one strong reader per triad.
  • Review the Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart as needed (from Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 7).
  • Preview the Language Dive Guide and consider how to invite conversation among students to address the questions and goals suggested under each sentence strip chunk (see supporting materials). Select from the questions and goals provided to best meet your students' needs.
  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 3.I.A.1, 3.I.B.6, 3.I.B.7, 3.I.B.8, 3.I.C.10

Important points in the lesson itself 

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to hear a section of text read aloud and discuss the gist as a class before determining main ideas and supporting details in triads; explore difficult vocabulary in context to better understand the text; and build on their understanding of parts of speech by explicitly discussing the function of adjectives.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to determine the main ideas and supporting details for pages 16-19 of One Well in the time allotted. Model and think aloud the process as needed and provide students with any additional time they need to complete this work (see Meeting Students'Needs).

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Challenge students to rephrase the questions in the lesson for those who need heavier support.

For heavier support:

  • During Work Time A, distribute a partially filled-in copy of the Glossary: Pages 16-19 of One Well. This provides students with models for the kind of information they should enter while reducing the volume of writing required.
  • Prepare the Descriptive Language Construction Board (see Module 3, Unit 3) to reinforce student understanding of the function of adjectives and adverbs during this unit. Attach the following sentence frame in the middle: "I am __________." Students insert adjectives to describe themselves during Opening B, in preparation for explaining the function of adjectives in the Language Dive, as well as during the end of unit assessment

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): This lesson offers a variety of visual anchors to cue students' thinking. For those who may need additional support, consider creating additional or individual anchor charts for reference. Additionally, continue to chart student responses during whole class discussions to aid with comprehension.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): Continue to support students in setting appropriate goals for their effort and the level of difficulty expected.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Invite students to reflect on their learning from previous lessons with One Well. This supports them in understanding the value and relevance of the activities in this lesson. Provide support for students who may need additional guidance in peer interactions and collaboration.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

  • adjective, main ideas, supporting details (L)
  • societies, essential, industry, agriculture, hydroelectric, equivalent (T)

Materials

  • One Well (from Lesson 2; one per student)
  • Parts of Speech anchor chart (begun in Module 1; added to during Work Time A)
  • Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Glossary: Pages 16-19 of One Well (one per student and one to display)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Glossary: Pages 16-19 of One Well (example, for teacher reference)
  • Language Dive Guide: One Well: Adjectives(for teacher reference)
    • Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart (begun in Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 7)
    • Language Dive Chunk Chart: One Well: Adjectives (for teacher reference)
    • Language Dive Note-catcher: One Well: Adjectives (one per student and one to display)
    • Language Dive Sentence Strip Chunks: One Well: Adjectives (one to display)
  • Colored pencil (yellow; used by the teacher to underline adjectives on the Parts of Speech anchor chart)
  • Determining the Main Ideas Note-catcher: Pages 16-19 of One Well (one per student and one todisplay)
  • Determining the Main Ideas Note-catcher: Pages 16-19 of One Well (example, for teacher reference)
  • Language Dive Practice: One Well: Nouns (homework from Lesson 3; one per student)
  • Language Dive Practice: One Well: Nouns (answers, for teacher reference

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Engaging the Reader: One Well, Pages 16-19(10 minutes) 

  • Move students into pre-determined triads.
  • Invite students to retrieve their copies of One Well and turn to page 16. If students are confused about why they are skipping pages, explain that the pages they are skipping are not as important to the topic of the module, but they are welcome to read them at home if they wish.
  • Display page 16 and read pages 16-19 aloud as students read along silently in their heads.
  • Think-Triad-Share:

"What is the gist of these pages? What are they mostly about?" (how people use water for so many things, and that we use mostly freshwater, which is only a small amount of the water on Earth)
Conversation Cue: "Who can repeat what your classmate said?" (Responses will vary.)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support in activating prior knowledge: (Recounting) Before reading, invite students to recount the main ideas from the previous sections of One Well in 1 minute or less (with feedback) and then again in 30 seconds or lesswith a partner. (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Reading Aloud Twice) Consider reading pages 16-19 aloud two times before inviting students to discuss the gist of the text in triads. (MMR

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) 

  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and select a volunteer to read them aloud:

"I can explain the function of adjectives."
"I can determine the main ideas and supporting details of pages 16-19 of One Well."

  • Underline the word adjectives. Focus students on the Parts of Speech anchor chart.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What is an adjective?" (a word that describes a noun or pronoun)

  • Focus students on the second learning target and remind them that they have seen this target in previous lessons. Review main idea and supporting details as needed.
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart and invite them to read the habits of character on the chart to themselves. Tell students to choose a habit to focus on as they work with their classmates today. Cold call students to share with the whole group and select one as a class.
  • For ELLs: (Descriptive Language Construction Board: Function of Adjectives) Remind students of the Descriptive Language Construction Board from Module 3 (see "For heavier support") and briefly review the adjectives on the board. Invite students to complete the sentence with an adjective to describe themselves: "I am ____________ [adjective]." (Example: I am curious.) Encourage students to explain the function of the adjective in the sentence. Add any new adjectives students suggest to the board.
  • For students who may need additional support with motivation: Ask students to give specific examples of how they have worked toward the second learning target during this unit. (MME)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Determining the Meaning of Unfamiliar Vocabulary: One Well, Pages 16-19(15 minutes) 

  • Distribute and display the Glossary: Pages 16-19 of One Well. Remind students that there is some challenging vocabulary on these pages and that to determine the main idea and supporting details, it's important that they understand the text.
  • Review what to record in each column. Emphasize that the translation column is optional for those students who speak other languages, but if triads include one or more students who speak another language, this is a great opportunity for the other student(s) in the group to learn words from a different language.
  • Focus students on the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and invite them to begin working in triads to complete the glossary.
  • Circulate to support students as they complete their glossaries.
  • Three minutes before the end of the allotted time, refocus whole group and cold call students to share their definitions for each word and the strategies they used to determine the meaning. Refer to the Glossary: Pages 16-19 of One Well (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • For ELLs: (Parts of Speech: Explaining Function) As students complete their glossaries, invite them to determine the part of speech of each word and write the part of speech next to the word on their glossaries. Challenge them to "prove" which part of speech each word falls under. Provide a sentence frame for support and add each word to the Examples column of the Parts of Speech anchor chart.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with vocabulary: (Sketching Meaning) Invite students to sketch or draw the meaning of each word in the second column of their glossary. (MMR, MMAE)

B. Language Dive: The Function of Adjectives (15 minutes) 

  • Tell students they will now participate in a Language Dive using the same format from Module 3.
  • Focus students' attention on the Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart and remind them that they thought of their own questions to ask during a Language Dive.
  • Think-Pair-Share:

"What is one question you can ask during a Language Dive?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Reread Paragraph 1 on page 19 of One Well.
  • Focus on the sentence:
  • "Though we live on a watery planet, not all of that water can be used to meet our needs."
  • Use the Language Dive Guide: One Well: Adjectives and Language Dive Chunk Chart: One Well: Adjectives to guide students through a Language Dive of the sentence. Distribute and display the Language Dive Note-catcher: One Well: Adjectives and Language Dive Sentence Strip Chunks: One Well: Adjectives.
  • After the Language Dive:
    • Underline the word adjective in the table in the Parts of Speech anchor chart using a yellow colored pencil.
    • Write the Language Dive sentence under the table and underline the adjective wateryusing the colored pencil.
  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the first learning target. Select one or two students showing they have met the learning target to provide evidence.
  • For ELLs: (Parts of Speech: Identifying) After adding the sentence to the Parts of Speech anchor chart, challenge students to identify other parts of speech (nouns, pronouns) in the sentence. Challenge them to "prove" which part of speech each word falls under. Underline any words students identify with corresponding colors from the chart and add them to the Examples column on the chart.
  • For students who need additional support with oral language and processing: Allow ample wait time after asking questions during the Language Dive. (MME, MMAE)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Determining the Main Ideas: One Well, Pages 16-19 (15 minutes) 

  • Distribute and display the Determining the Main Ideas Note-catcher: Pages 16-19 of One Well. Emphasize the similarities between this note-catcher and the one students completed in the first half of the unit when listening to the text read aloud. Point out that this time there isn't a column for notes about the supporting details because they have the texts in front of them to refer to directly, rather than having to make notes as they listen. Instead, there are two columns for supporting details, in case students identify two main ideas.
  • Use a similar process as that from Work Time A of Lesson 2 to guide students through determining the main idea(s):
    • Invite students to work in triads to think about the big idea(s) the author wants them to understand from reading these pages of the text. Remind them that there may be more than one main idea, especially since they read two sections of the text: "People at the Well" and "Freshwater in the Well."
    • Invite students to look in the text for details to support their main idea(s).
    • If they can't find supporting details for their main idea(s), remind students to revise their main idea(s).
    • Circulate to support students as they identify the main ideas and supporting details.
  • Refocus whole group and use a total participation technique to select students to share their main ideas and supporting details. Refer to the Determining the Main Ideas Note-catcher: Pages 16-19 of One Well (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the second learning target and how well they demonstrated the habit from the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart they decided to focus on today. Select one or two students showing they have met the learning target to provide evidence.
  • Collect the Language Dive Practice: One Well: Nouns homework from Lesson 4. Refer to the Language Dive Practice: One Well: Nouns (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Evaluating Main Idea and Details) Identify a main idea and one detail, and then invite students to evaluate it. (Example: "The author says that at home people use water for cleaning, cooking, drinking, flushing, and bathing. Does that detail support the main idea that people use water for almost everything? Why or why not?") (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with working memory: (Providing Supporting Details) Before inviting students to work in triads, consider providing the supporting details for one main idea and inviting students to determine the main idea based on those key details. Encourage them to think about and discuss with their triad how each detail supports the main idea. (MMAE

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Complete the Language Dive Practice: One Well: Adjectives in your Unit 1 homework. B. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with written expression: (Oral Response) Read aloud, discuss, and respond to your prompt orally, either with a partner, family member, or student from grades 4 or 6, or record an audio response. (MMAE)

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